Bloodprints
by sleepyturbine
Summary: Suri hadn't lived a normal life since the day she was born, and any hope of achieving normalcy was shattered when she met four young men. Oh well, being normal was overrated anyway. Hiei x OC
1. 01: Panic

Suri hadn't lived a normal life since the day she was born, and any hope of achieving normalcy was shattered when she met four young men. Oh well, being normal was overrated anyway.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any part of Yu Yu Hakusho.

Rated **T** for mild language and violence. This will be a Hiei x OC fanfic.

_I love reviews, don't be shy :)_

**Bloodprints**

01: Panic

* * *

I woke up to a familiar feeling, an anything but pleasant one to say the least.

My skin felt as if it would burst into flames at any given moment and, no, that's not an exaggeration. It literally felt as if I my entire body had been thickly lathered in oil before being shoved into an oven that had been pre-heated several thousand degrees. The sweat on my burning form evaporated instantly in the wave of heat, and the blood inside my veins began to simmer and boil. Every inch of my sensitive skin burned like hellfire and the more I tried to ignore the pain the deeper that feeling would sink, until eventually my very bones were baking in my small, frail body. My head… Oh, my head… It felt as if it was going to explode into trillions of microscopic pieces. Have you ever been hit in the head repeatedly with a metal baseball bat swung by a man whose stature very much resembled that of a bodybuilder? Neither have I, but I imagine it would feel something like this. In all honesty, I think I'd prefer the baseball bat to this agony because chances are I'd be unconscious after the first swing. My stomach wasn't sparing any mercy either; it twisted into knots so tight it was wringing out blood, which I began to cough up a few moments after waking.

I was born twenty-two years ago with an unheard of condition that left the entire hospital staff puzzled. It took them nearly seven years to figure it out, but they eventually managed to discover why I was sicker than a cancer patient. As it turns out, I have an extremely unusual allergy; every day since my birth I've been fighting for my life, while my body fights against its own blood.

It took doctors from all around the world nearly three years to formulate a temporary antidote for my condition. I was just turning ten by that time. When I was first born, the "allergy" wasn't as severe as it is now. I was mostly just getting fevers, occasional seizures, and every once in a while I'd have the pleasure of vomiting up my own blood. I was weak, yes, but the allergies weren't killing me as quickly as they are now. Over the past two years the condition has gotten dramatically worse, to the point that I have to take nearly toxic amounts of medication to survive. I wake up trembling every morning with a fever that should kill me, a mouthful of blood, a racing heart, failing organs, shortness of breath, and a skull-splitting headache. Some days, like today, I get all those conditions but tenfold in severity. The best doctors from all around the globe are trying to create an alternative medication, but at the rate things are going I'll be dead by the time they figure it out – whether it's my own body that kills me, or the poison I'm putting into it.

I struggled out of the tangled mess of sheets as best I could. The dark room was spinning circles around my throbbing head and I resorted to closing my pale, hazel eyes and sinking to my hands and knees, crawling unsteadily like a wounded animal across the cool wooden floors. Desperation and panic were starting to fuel my awkward movements, and in what felt like a dizzying eternity later I had finally made my way out of the bedroom and onto the cold tiles of the bathroom floor. Part of me wanted to just collapse right there; I was burning up from the inside out and the tiles were so cold and comforting… But I knew if I were to lie down right then I wouldn't have the energy or the will to get back up. Eyes still shut to the swirling world around me I slid my sweaty hands up the worn face of the cabinet until I found the vinyl surface and, with great effort, I grasped the edge of the porcelain sink and pulled myself up onto my feet. Without bothering to steady myself I reached a shaking hand for the medicine cabinet and began to fumble through its many contents as my legs trembled violently beneath me. I knew this cabinet like the back of my hand, and it didn't take me long to feel for the small, cylindrical container that I was to use "only for emergency situations". It was a very potent version of my daily medication, but that didn't stop me from downing the entire bottle – easily ten times the amount I was supposed to take. It would take some time for the medicine to take effect, so I finally allowed myself to relax on the cool bathroom floor. My fate was in the hands of the antidote now, but I wasn't concerned. This sort of thing happened about once a week.

* * *

"How are you feeling today, Miss Morioka?"

I sighed inwardly as the man standing before me asked me the same question he did every single morning. He was dressed the same way as all the other doctors in this hellhole of a hospital: in a white shirt, traditional white doctor's coat, black slacks and black shoes. He had a stethoscope hanging loosely around his neck and a clipboard that seemed to be surgically attached to his hand along with a fancy black pen that was constantly scratching against the papers that were clamped to the plastic apparatus.

"I had another episode." I told him flatly, to which I only received half a nod. After several years of doing the same routine over and over and over, the number of words I had to speak in order to effectively communicate with Doctor Yoshida had dwindled down to a bare minimum.

His pen filled the silence of the white-washed room as it scratched across the paper. I couldn't stand hospitals. I could practically smell the death and diseases that crawled all over the tile floors and unadorned walls, and the cleaning materials they used to try to kill any existing bacteria only seemed to mix in with the stench of illness and decay. It was nauseating.

Dr. Yoshida slipped the clipboard beneath his underarm before sliding the stethoscope off of his neck. Wordlessly, he pressed the cool metal against the thin fabric of my hospital gown over my chest as I habitually breathed in and out in deep, slow breaths. After sliding the smooth metal several places over my chest he moved across to my upper back. As soon as he was finished I slid off of the poor excuse of a hospital "bed" and made my way over to the opposite side of the small, bleak room. I stepped onto the scale with my bare feet and he wrote down my weight: 107 pounds. A sigh escaped my lips; I had lost another pound since the beginning of this week. I didn't understand how that was even possible. There wasn't a bone in my body that wasn't already visible.

From the scale I moved into the chair in the corner of the room to have my blood levels checked, and once that was over with came the really fun stuff. I frowned as Dr. Yoshida opened the cabinet and pulled out several vials and packages of syringes. No matter how many years I had been doing this routine, being poked and prodded was still very uncomfortable. I tried not to fidget as he brought the first set of torture devices over and wrapped a band around my upper arm. When he tore the first syringe out of its packaging I looked away, finding the most interesting spot on the blank wall I could find and concentrating hard on keeping my eyes focused upon that spot. As the needle bit into my skin I flinched. I felt the blood draining from my arm and into its new home in the syringe, and as it filled I stole a quick glance over at the counter. There were seven more vials, as always, although I secretly wished as I did every morning that there would be at least one less.

…

…

...

I left the hospital feeling faint and a bit lightheaded, and as I stumbled out into the glaring sun I brought my hand up to shield my sensitive eyes. I still hadn't gotten used to transitioning from the fluorescent lights to the bright sun after all these years yet either. I let out heavy sigh as I began to trudge my way down the concrete sidewalk. My head spun as blood slowly regenerated itself within my body and for a moment I had to pause and sit against the red brick wall of a random building.

I watched with mild interest as people walked across the sidewalk on the other side of the street, some casting disinterested glances my way before going on with their lives. I stretched one leg in front of me while pulling the other up to my chest, and with the umpteenth sigh this now late morning I rested my arms and head over my knee. Suppressing a yawn I closed my eyes, enjoying the warm rays of the sun that washed over my pale body.

My mind began to drift into a relaxed haze as the streets began to fill with people, their footsteps shuffling around my outstretched leg which I made no effort to pull back.

That proved to be a mistake.

"Ow!" I yelped as what I assumed was a shoe collided against my shin, quickly pulling my outstretched leg up to my chest. Rubbing my scrawny leg I looked up at the offender.

He was tall. Very tall, probably several heads taller than me. His hair caught my attention first: I had never seen someone with hair that resembled the color of a carrot as closely as his did. I couldn't distinguish the color of his small eyes, but as they connected with mine they widened significantly and I caught a glimpse of… blue? His long face began to contort and he opened his mouth wide…

"Oh, no!" He practically shouted, making me jump slightly. I raised an eyebrow as he began to move around frantically. I didn't know what he was doing, and I don't think he knew what he was doing either. "I'm so sorry! Are you okay? I'm so stupid it's all my fault I was daydreaming about my love and I wasn't paying attention and…" he began to rant, and the more he spoke the higher my eyebrow went until it was practically at my hairline.

"_What a strange stranger." _I thought, watching his mouth open and close as his tongue flicked around in his mouth. I had tuned him out by now, but I was still intrigued by the exaggerated fashion in which his mouth moved as he continued to rant and apologize.

I focused on him, or more specifically is ever rambling mouth, for what seemed like several lengthy minutes. His mouth finally closed and I assumed he was done talking. He seemed to have paused midsentence, breath still held in his chest, his eyes returning to their normal size as they looked me over once from head to toe. "Do you need a burger or something?"

Both my eyebrows shot up to my hairline. I wasn't quite sure how to take that one. He was blunt, that was for damn sure, but his bluntness seemed to be backed by a sincere concern. I hated being pitied, but what the hell, I was hungry. Contrary to what most people thought, I wasn't anorexic. Honestly, the way I eat I should be a total fat-ass considering my complete and total lack of exercise. Using the brick wall behind me as support I slowly rose to my feet, glad to find that my earlier fatigue had faded.

"A burger sounds pretty damn good right now," I admitted, smiling awkwardly at the stranger. "My name is Suri."

"Suri, that's a pretty name!" He smiled sincerely, beaming. "I'm Kuwabara."

...

...

...

I didn't get picked up by strangers often… Okay, that's a lie. I _never_ get picked up by strangers. I'm a pale, nearly emaciated, sickly looking girl. At most I would occasionally be offered loose change or half eaten sandwiches, but other than that people didn't spare me many looks. I don't even know why I accepted the newly acquainted Kuwabara's offer to grab a bite to eat, but I was glad I did. He was proving to be fun company.

He sat across from me, mouth still running a marathon with partially chewed food jumping around in his mouth. His table manners weren't the best I'll admit, but from the half hour I had spent with him I had come to the conclusion that he was a pretty okay guy. He talked mostly about his love "Yukina". Every time he would mention her he practically melted, sickly sweet words gushing from his lips as his eyes began to sparkle and a warm pink glow enveloped his cheeks. He was overly dramatic for sure, but I actually found it to be a refreshing change from my usual solitary way of living. I even let out a few light laughs in his company.

"How did you two meet?" I finally asked after the hundredth time he swooned over his love's name. His expression blanked for a second.

"Oh, that's a long story." He chuckled, running a hand through the back of his hair. I couldn't help but notice how quickly his attitude had changed. I was sure he would have exploded at the chance to tell the story of how he met this lovely lady, but instead he became oddly quiet and almost nervous. I brushed a strand of greyed brown hair behind my ear, the momentary silence making me slightly uneasy. He seemed to notice this and smiled, "Maybe some other time, kid."

"_Kid?" _I raised an eyebrow. I was probably the same age as he was, but hey, when your body has been fighting against itself its entire life it tends to focus more on surviving than growing, and my barely five foot tall frame probably did make me look like I was still in grade school. I shrugged off the comment and picked up the remainder of my third burger.

"I've been talking too much," the carrot top sat back, patting his bloated stomach. "What about you? Do you have a lover?"

The burger stopped a few inches short of my opened mouth, my hazel eyes staring blankly into his small ones. I shut my mouth and lowered the burger back down to my plate, a crooked frown tugging at the corners of my lips.

"No." I sighed. I hadn't ever had a lover, or a boyfriend, or even a fling, really. Hell I couldn't even recall the last time I had a friend. I stopped attending school around the second grade when my allergies started becoming a problem, and from there on out I was homeschooled until… I shook my head, bringing my hand up to my face as I gently pressed my thumb and index finger against the bridge of my nose, my eyes closing momentarily. I had been living alone for quite some time now. I had half an education, no job, and no way of paying for the massive of amount of debt I had collected in hospital bills. I had no social life. Most of my time was spent in hospitals, and when I wasn't in a hospital I was either resting at home or travelling in between hospitals, my home, and grocery stores.

"Did I… Say something wrong?" Kuwabara frowned, leaning forward until his elbows rested on the table.

"No," I cracked a half smile at him. "Sorry, I was just off in my own thoughts. No, I don't have a lover. I'm not exactly a social butterfly, more of a hermit crab really." I forced a laugh.

"So, you from around here?" He seemed to pick up on my discomfort, changing the subject immediately.

"Yeah. I was born and raised here."

"Really? Me too! You live with your parents or siblings or…?"

I bit back another frown that tried to force itself upon my lips. I was suddenly remembering why I kept myself isolated. Even the simplest questions, questions that most people had no problem answering, were either too painful or too difficult for me to answer. I didn't live a normal life, and I had learned from past mistakes not to let people get involved in it.

"I live alone." I averted my gaze, unable to look him in the eyes when I spoke again, "I've been on my own since I was fourteen. I… I like it this way…"

That last part was a lie. I knew it, he knew it, and I knew that he knew it. Great, my pessimism was ruining our good time.

"I'm sorry Kuwabara," I flashed him the best smile I could manage. "I don't mean to be negative; it's a personality flaw I'm working on."

Kuwabara shrugged. "I didn't think you were being negative, just honest."

That brought a real smile to my lips. Kuwabara was actually a pretty damn cool guy.

I finished my burger as we attempted at more small talk, or rather he took over our chatter and I listened to him contently. His story somehow managed to go back to his love Yukina again, and I was perfectly fine with that. I had always been more of a listener than a talker anyway. I loved hearing peoples' stories, regardless of how cheesy some of them were.

Kuwabara was in the middle of another story of love as an agonizing pain suddenly ripped through my heart, causing me to inhale sharply. The smile that had made itself comfortable on my face shattered as I grit my teeth. I clutched my chest with both hands, my eyes squeezed shut tight as I slowly began to keel over, my forehead coming to a rest on the edge of the table.

"Hey! What's wrong?" Kuwabara's voice sounded very worried. "You have heartburn or something?"

"No!" I gasped, my eyes snapping open. I needed my medicine, and fast. I could feel my heart begin to writhe inside me and knew it would only be moments before my body would start to wage war against itself. I hastily reached for my purse that was sitting beside me on the diner bench and started dumping its contents out onto the seat, panic starting to frenzy my movements. I shook the purse for several seconds before tossing it onto the table, then dug into the small clutter I had created beside me, spreading the items around and knocking some onto the floor. _"Where is it… Where the hell is it, I can't find it! It has to be here… I always have my medicine why isn't it here?! I always have it with me it has to be here!" _I snatched my purse once more and started shaking it out above the table, ignoring the troubled looks and questions coming from Kuwabara. Nothing else fell out. _"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no, this can't be happening!"_

I'm pretty sure I nearly gave Kuwabara a heart attack as I shot up abruptly from my seat, but I paid him no mind. My life was at stake right now and I had to get home fast. I needed my medicine. My eyes were wide as I darted out of the diner, leaving all my personal belongings and one very shell-shocked young man behind.

I burst through the double doors and stumbled out into the bright daylight, my eyes wild as I tried to look around for any recognizable surroundings. Of course I had to go somewhere completely new, and in my panic I couldn't remember which direction we had come from. I picked a direction at random and began to sprint, hoping I would find my way to a familiar street. My stomach began to clench and shortly after my head began to ache. I knew that my vision would start to become blurry soon, then I would begin coughing up blood, and after that I would start having seizures. I only had a few short minutes left.

People yelled obscenities at me as I pushed past them, knocking a few to the ground as my desperation increased. The corners of my vision were already fogging up, and this sent me into full panic mode. I didn't know the outside world like the back of my hand as I did my own apartment. I couldn't find my way around without my vision. As I rounded another unfamiliar corner I could feel my temperature begin to rise and my core start to shake. I was about to have another episode.

Tears began to well up in my eyes and my throat was forming a painful lump as I came to the realization that I might not make it this time. As miserable as my life was, I wasn't at all prepared to embrace death. Salty tears began to stream down my face as I continued to run, my lungs on fire, but deep down I knew that I was fighting a losing battle.

**[From Kuwabara's View]**

He didn't know what had come over the girl. One minute she was smiling and laughing at his stories, and the next she was in severe pain after which she had a freak out and took off. Grabbing his wallet, he threw enough cash down onto the table to pay for both their meals and the tip, and then he quickly scooped up her belongings before rushing out of the diner.

It didn't take a genius brain to know which direction she had run. He had an awesomely strong sixth sense, and it was telling his gut to take a right when he exited the double doors. Yeah, it was definitely his awesome sixth sense that would lead him to her, and not the disgruntled people walking down the sidewalk muttering about a girl in hysterics.

It didn't take him long to find Suri, but when he did it took him a moment to recover from his shock. She was lying unconscious in the middle of an empty street, a small trickle of blood running from her mouth down her chin.

"Suri!" He called out as he ran towards her limp body. Without a second thought he picked the girl up, intent on getting help, and there was only one person his scrambled mind could think to go to.


	2. 02: Rotten

Thank you for the reviews! Really, they are so motivational! :)

Before I get to the story, I would like to sincerely apologize for the ridiculously long wait; these past few months have been hell between relationship drama, being laid off work, trying to go back to school, car troubles, financial troubles, family preparing to move, and just life in general. I'm not trying to make excuses; I just couldn't focus on writing with all the bullshit that was going on. Things have been finally looking up a bit and I'm content enough to write now. I hope I at least don't disappoint with this chapter!

**Bloodprints**

02: Rotten

* * *

"Is she gonna be okay?"

"I'm not sure."

Silence hung in the air for what felt like an eternity as Kuwabara watched his former teammate hover around the girl he had met only a few hours earlier. He had run over to Kurama's as fast as he could, hoping that the green-thumbed fox demon would have some sort of plant or home-brewed concoction that could cure her mystery illness, but two hours later it was still unclear as to what exactly had happened. She was still unconscious in Kurama's bed, lying in a pool of her own boiling sweat.

His chest felt heavy with anxiousness as Suri's breathing became increasingly labored and her body temperature continued to rise well above the point of alarm. Her heart was beating so fast it seemed to be tripping itself up, its beat becoming more and more irregular, and all of her vital organs were beginning to shut down. They had tried to take her to a hospital where she could receive better care, but any time she was moved even slightly she would begin to have violent convulsions that caused blood to run from her the corners of her colorless lips and from her crusty nostrils.

Kurama removed a steaming hot towel from Suri's forehead and exchanged it with a cold, wet towel which he had fished out from a bucket of ice water beside his feet. He sat in a chair beside her, having to rotate the towels every three to five minutes before the heat rising from her body would cause the soaking towels to become damp and steaming hot. He had also placed several sandwich bags full of ice around her body in a hopeless attempt to keep her core temperature cool. He was doing everything he could think of to keep the girl alive but he knew all too well that even if she were to survive this ordeal, she would most likely suffer permanent physical and mental damage; her body would be irreparable.

_Humans were so fragile._

He removed himself from the chair he had pulled up beside his bed and rejoined Kuwabara on the plush carpeted floor, glancing around briefly at the mess they had created earlier. Textbooks were scattered across every corner of the room, creating a maze of thick hardbound papers. Stacks of yellow sticky notes, spirals of notepaper, and about a dozen multicolored highlighters also littered the floor. He picked up a book that had been lying open in front of his crossed legs, continuing from the spot he had left off.

"Epilepsy…" Kuwabara mumbled just loud enough for Kurama to hear him, his index finger trailing across the page, "…is usually sudden and typically has no warnings signs or symptoms. It may be an inherited gene…"

"Unlikely," Kurama frowned, "Her body is in shock and her organs are shutting down, this is something much more severe."

The sound of pages being flipped over joined the sound of Suri's harsh breathing, and after a few minutes Kurama went back to her side to exchange another hand towel.

"Encephalitis: possible symptoms can include headaches, fever, drowsiness, lethargy, coma, seizures, and mental changes such as emotional instability and confusion." Kuwabara slid a yellow post-it note into the crack of the book between the pages he was reading, allowing less than an inch of the yellow paper to peer from the top of the page as he flipped it over. Kurama sat himself back on the floor and selected another book, slowly fanning through the pages.

"That consists of many of the symptoms she is having," Kurama also grabbed a yellow sticky note and slid it between the pages he had stopped on as he read aloud, "It also sounds as if it could be Lupus, which can have a range of problems depending on the severity of the disorder. Such symptoms can include fatigue, fever, joint and muscle pain, nervous system problems, heart, lung, and organ problems, and mental health issues, to name a few."

"That sounds exactly like what she's having!" Kuwabara exclaimed excitedly. "So now that you know what's wrong you can make a cure, right?!"

"Not so hasty. We can't be sure that is what she has unless we test for it, and it can be dangerous to treat something without knowing with one hundred percent certainty what is wrong."

"So let's test for it!"

"I don't have the necessary –"

A rough gasp snapped both boys attention back to Suri, and in one swift movement they were both on their feet and at the side of the bed. She had begun to choke and gurgle, blood spewing from her lips with every harsh cough. Her body started to twitch, faintly at first, but then it began to convulse, her muscles rippling violently beneath her ghostly white skin. Her eyes snapped wide open as her gasps for air became deeper and more desperate.

"We're out of time." Kurama said solemnly.

"Isn't there _something _you can do?!" Kuwabara half shouted. "She's gonna die!"

"I'm afraid there is not."

"We can't just stand here and watch her die, Kurama!" Kuwabara grabbed the fox demon firmly by the hem of his shirt, "We have to do something – anything!"

Kurama looked away. There was nothing more he could do. At this point, he didn't even know if he could slow down her death. Even if he could, he didn't want to; the girl was in so much agony it was making his own body ache. If anything he wished he could speed up her death.

Kuwabara let go of the fox and watched in horror as Suri continued to choke on her own blood, her pale hazel eyes wide open as her face began to gain a ghastly purple hue. There was no telling how many minutes, or seconds, she had left. Her hands began to grasp at the sheets and Kuwabara forced himself to look away. No matter how many demons he had watched get gruesomely ripped apart before his eyes, and even after seeing humans murdered mercilessly before him, there was just something about seeing a girl in anguish on her death bed that gnawed at the pit of his stomach. It was sickening, gut-wrenching, horrifying.

There was a '_slosh' _sound, like someone had just thrown up the contents of their stomach, and then everything went silent save for Suri's labored breathing. Kuwabara turned his head back to the girl and reeled at the unexpected sight.

Suri appeared to be conscious, although barely. She had rotated at the waist so that her arms were just barely holding her up and her head hung over the edge of the bed, her chin-length grey-brown hair clinging to her pale, sweaty face. Her colorless lips had been caked with blood, and less than three feet beneath her face on the floor was a large puddle of dark blood that had the consistency of the slop farmers fed their pigs. Within seconds a god-awful smell suddenly enveloped the room and Kuwabara swiftly brought his hand up to cover his nose and mouth. He glanced at Kurama, who had instinctively done the same.

"Something smells rotten."

**[Suri's View]**

_Back to the fiery oven, the sweltering heat burning me alive from my molten core. Imagine this, if you can: You're in an indestructible metal cage, with barely enough room to even sit. Your head is bent down so that your chin is pressed uncomfortably against your collarbone, with your forehead pressed into the bars, and your arms are pressed against your sides with the bars so snug around you that your lungs can't even fully expand. Your knees are pulled up to the sides of your forehead because that's the only way you can fit into this tiny cage. A fire is then lit beneath you, and the metal quickly starts to heat up. It's bearable at first, but soon your skin starts to sizzle melt into the floor of the cage. The stench of your burning flesh assaults your nostrils. Tears start to fall from your eyes but they evaporate almost instantly. You try to scream, but you can't free up your vocal chords or your lungs. You try to free yourself from the cage but the bars only seem to get tighter and hotter with every movement. The bars are now glowing red and you can't take the pain anymore, but for some reason you're still alive. You can't lose consciousness, you can't die, you can only wait and hope for the torture to end._

_This is what it feels like for me every single time. That's even how my subconscious imagines it: me lit aflame in a glowing red cage. You would think that after enduring such torture on a frequent basis one would get used to it, that one would become numb to the pain but no… No, that's not the case. Each time I have an episode the torment magnifies. You would think that when I pass out from the pain it would offer some relief but no. Even when I'm unconscious, my fucking _subconscious_ still feels the god damn heat. The only way out is to wake up and end the pain once and for all, but then you have to fight with that whole "will to live" bullshit._

I can't recall exactly when I came to, and I was having trouble recalling the events leading up to my current episode, but what I did quickly come to realize despite my incredibly blurred vision was that I was neither at home nor at a hospital. I would have been slightly panicked if I didn't feel like I had just been run over by a freight train before being tossed into a sea of lava. I could hear voices, but they sounded very muffled and distant. I strained to clear my eyes but I couldn't see straight for the life of me.

"Suri, are you okay?"

The clarity of the voices came to me first, and the one that had just spoken sounded familiar.

"Suri?"

I tried to find the owner of the voice but all I could see were blurs of colors. Blue, red, green, brown, orange… It clicked when I saw a blob of carrot-orange hovering a few feet from my face.

"Kuwabara?" My voice was incredibly raspy and it hurt to speak. My vision was slowly starting to return and he now only looked somewhat out of focus.

"Suri! You're okay!"

I decided against telling him how very _not _okay I was, and instead tried to sit up properly. I was realizing now that I was in a bed, a very comfortable bed save for the giant puddle I was sitting in.

"Don't strain yourself, Miss Suri."

That other voice was definitely not familiar. It was the complete opposite of Kuwabara's loud and raspy voice: cool, smooth, gentle, and calming. I tried rubbing my eyes to clear the rest of the blur but that did little to nothing. I did manage to make out a few colors and shapes and came to the conclusion that the bold red blur was definitely someone's hair.

"_A red-head. I wonder if she's related to Kuwabara."_

I shifted uncomfortably as the pain slowly faded from my body and I become more aware of everything else that was going on around me. The bed was very wet and I suddenly noticed a bunch of bags full of water all around me. There was a sickening smell in the room and it caused me to scrunch my nose in disgust and my stomach clenched involuntarily. There was also something was clinging to my forehead and I pulled it off to discover a barely damp hand towel. Did they really think they could take care of me? There was nothing they could have done. Still, it was kind of them. A kindness I wasn't used to and I had no idea how to respond to it. And I was somehow alive, despite not having had my medication.

After a few minutes of semi-awkward silence my vision cleared up, and I finally managed to make out the features of the stranger.

There was no way she could have been related to Kuwabara.

She was gorgeous, with emerald green eyes and long, flowing red hair. Height-wise she was quite a bit taller than me, but not as tall as Kuwabara. She had the warmest smile I had ever seen and the most delicate features and… damn, this chick had less breast tissue than I did, and I'm practically a skeleton. Not judging or anything, just saying, she had no breasts.

No breasts.

Oh.

"_Oh. This guy is totally gender confused."_

"Do you mind telling us what happened?"

I fought the blush that tried sneaking upon my cheeks, embarrassed that I had confused this gentleman for a woman (even though I was quite sure it wasn't an uncommon mistake).

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." I looked between the two sheepishly, suddenly feeling very socially awkward and uncomfortable. Whose house was I in anyway? Maybe they were roommates. I had so many questions of my own; my mind was running off with me.

"Try me."

"Fine," I sighed. I did at least owe them an explanation for all the trouble I must have put them through. "You probably won't believe me but I'm… I'm allergic to my own blood. Ever since I was born my body has been rejecting my blood. I'm basically highly allergic to myself…"

Silence. I could see the looks of skepticism written all over their faces. If I were in their shoes I probably wouldn't believe me either; most people didn't, and those that did treated my illness like a contagious disease.

"So… is there a cure?" Kuwabara asked hesitantly.

"You don't have to pretend like you believe me."

"We believe you, Suri." Kuwabara replied earnestly. "Trust me, we've seen stranger things."

"…No, there's no cure." I fidgeted slightly. I shifted my focus to the redhead. "I didn't catch your name, mine's Suri."

"Shuichi."

I furrowed my brows. Shuichi's voice went from cool, calm, and collected to very strained. I knew the look of pain and discomfort better than anyone and I knew there was something wrong with him. His face was starting to contort despite his efforts to keep his composure, but he really did look like he was going to be sick. Brows furrowed slightly, a mist of sweat breaking out of his forehead, posture starting to slack and stomach clenching, he looked like he was about to be sick all over the place.

"Hey Kurama, are you okay?" Kuwabara asked.

"You know I feel about that nickname, Kuwabara." Shuichi forced a smile. "I would appreciate it if you would call me by my real name in front of guests."

Kuwabara mumbled and apology as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Shuichi excused himself and started heading out of the room, but right as he reached the door he collapsed.

"Ku-Shuichi!" Kuwabara rushed over and kneeled down next to his friend.

I strained to get out of the bed and shakily made my way over. What the hell just happened? Maybe I really was contagious. "Is… is he okay?"

"I don't know." He suddenly whipped around to face me. "Hey! What are you doing out of bed?!"

"Don't worry about me." He really didn't handle stress well, did he?

Kuwabara lifted Shuichi off the floor with way less effort than expected. With one of Shuichi's arms swung over his shoulder he made his way out the door, calling back to me over his shoulder "I'll come back to help you down the stairs if you need me to."

"I'll be fine."

I followed Kuwabara down the stairs, using the guardrail as a life support. They were much steeper than the ones I was used to – one slip or misstep and I was bound to land painfully on my face on the hardwood floor at the bottom. I took it slow and made it down accident-free after what seemed like several agonizing minutes.

It only took a few minutes for Shuichi to come back to his senses, although he still seemed to be a bit woozy.

"Suri, would you mind giving us a few minutes alone?"

"Um, sure." That was not what I had been expecting him to say at all. I made my way slowly back up the stairs and returned to the room I had just come from. I shut the door silently behind me and went to sit on the bed when I spotted the blood-vomit beside the bed. Using the towels from the bucket, I started to clean my mess as I waited for Kuwabara and Shuichi to finish their private conversation.

**[With Kuwabara and Shuichi]**

"Are you okay, Kurama?"

"Kuwabara," Kurama sat up from the couch Kuwabara had laid him on. "How did you meet this girl?"

"I was just walking down the street and I accidentally walked into her, and then I asked her if she wanted to grab a bite to eat. Why?"

"You didn't sense anything strange about her?"

"Huh?" Kuwabara scratched the back of his head. "What are you talking about? She's just a human, Kurama."

"As far as I can tell yes, but something's not right here…" Kurama looked up towards the stairs, frowning. "The blood she threw up was unlike anything I have ever smelled before. It was human blood, but highly toxic. Something was also rotting."

"Well yeah, she said she was allergic to her own blood."

"She shouldn't be alive." Kurama stated. "Her insides are rotting, and by the smell of it they've been rotting for quite some time. She's basically a corpse on the inside."

"Wait – so she's like a zombie?"

"No." Kurama looked pained as he tried to explain to Kuwabara. "If I had to guess, there's something else living inside her, and this something is keeping her alive as it slowly consumes her."

There was a moment of silence as both looked towards the stairs, unaware of how long they had been chatting. It had been quiet from upstairs the whole time.

"So… What can we do?"

Kurama stood up and started making his way back to his room. "Keep close to her if you can. If she'll let you, walk her home so you know where she lives. I'll do some more research on demonic parasites and the like and see if I can find anything."

* * *

**[The Following Day]**

There's nothing I hate more than grocery shopping. I'm terrible at it. I always manage to spend way too much money on way too little food and then I always end up forgetting several things that I really wanted to get. I sighed as I trudged down the sidewalk, my oversized hoodie keeping me warm in the brisk morning air. Kuwabara had been kind enough to walk me home last night, and even grabbed my purse when I fled the restaurant earlier that day. I still wasn't sure how I felt about his friend Shuichi. He seemed kind on the outside, but he was too collected, almost like he was trying to hide something. I may have sub-par social skills, but I can tell strange from normal.

I was lost in my own thoughts when a snag on my pant leg stopped me dead in my tracks. I looked down at glared.

"Sorry, but I barely have money for myself." I pulled my leg free from him the panhandler I somehow hadn't even noticed sitting at the mouth of the alley. As I started walking away he grabbed me again and it took a lot of effort for me to hold back my sharp tongue – not because I didn't want to seem like a jerk, but because I didn't want to pick a fight with someone who is probably very desperate for cash. "Please let go."

"Who sssaid anything about money?"

I furrowed my brows, wondering what the hell this guy wanted then. He was dressed in raggedy clothes and had an empty can of beans containing a few coins and bills sitting beside him. I didn't see an instrument, fortune-telling table, or drugs, so what was up?

The man stood up and my heart began to pound violently as he got right into my face.

Now, I try not to judge people, but he _looked _like a freak. He had his entire face tattooed in snake scales, wore yellow slit-eye contacts, and even went as far as to have his tongue split. I tried to back away, but he grabbed my arm.

"I'm ssso hungry." He hissed.

"W-well I'm on my way to the grocery store," I stuttered. "I can pick you something up if you like."

The man just laughed. Or hissed, whatever, he was taking this snake-man thing to a whole other level.

"I usually go for sssomeone with a little more meat on their bones, but the streetsss are incredibly deserted this morning and my ssstomach hurtsss. I'm tired of waiting, ssso you'll have to do."

"_What? Is this guy on drugs?" _I yanked my arm free and tried to run, but he was quicker. He grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me back, tossing me into the alley. My eyes were wide in a panic as I tried to dart around him, but he kept pushing me further and further back. "Leave me alone!"

"Yess, get that blood pumping. I like it when they're feisssty!"

"Stay back! I'm warning you!" My back hit the wall and I froze. I was cornered. There was no way out.

I couldn't even tell you what happened next, it happened so fast. One second he was a couple feet in front of me, the next he was pressing against me with his scaly hand around my neck. This guy's skin even felt like that of a reptile's. His tongue flicked next to my ear as he started whispering to me, but I didn't hear a word of what he was saying. Turning my head to the side, I sunk my teeth into his cheek. He pulled away with a shriek and I spit out a chunk of skin and blood that I tore off of his face. I dashed past him, running towards the sidewalk and hoping that there was someone out there that could help me.

"Help! Somebody!"

I glanced over my shoulder to see him stumble out of the alley. To say he was pissed was a severe understatement. He looked murderous.

Without even looking for cars I ran across the street. I needed a place to hide. I darted in between buildings, climbed over fences, and ran through bushes and didn't dare to look back again.

I slid around the corner of a house and came to an abrupt halt as I collided with something.

"You're going to pay, ssstupid human!"

I could hear my heart now, it was beating so hard. I was on my ass and too terrified to move. He lunged at me and I attempted to block him with my arms, which he merely batted away before grabbing my wrists and pinning them over my head. He had me pressed onto the ground with his body, and as he leaned closer towards my face a devilish smirk spread across his jagged teeth. He opened his mouth and two of his teeth grew longer, like snake fangs.

Who the _fuck _was this guy?!

I struggled, and once again did the only thing I could do. I bit into the only place I could reach, which was his arm.

He let out an ear-shattering scream and stumbled off of me.

"What the hell is thisss?!" He looked at his arm, then back to me. His arm started to sizzle and spasm. He cried out in pain, "What did you do to me?!"

That's when I noticed the two puncture wounds on his arm. I quickly brought up a hand to my mouth and felt two long, thin fangs that had definitely not been in my mouth before.

"What the hell?" I stood up shakily. This must be some kind of nightmare. Reality doesn't get this weird.

The man pressed against the wound with his other hand, his face contorted in agony.

"I'll find you again, mark my words. I'll find you and I'll finish you!" And with that he turned around and vanished, leaving me terrified, in shock, and extremely confused.

"_What the hell just happened?"_


	3. 03: Prisoner

Thanks for the reviews you guys! You're awesome! :)

**Bloodprints**

03: Prisoner

* * *

I probably sat there in shock for a good ten minutes, not moving a single muscle fiber. My brain was thinking so much and at such a high rate of speed that it was in the process of being scrambled to liquid. I just could not wrap my mind around what had just happened. Was this all just a crazy dream? If this was a dream, it was a hell of a realistic nightmare and I should probably look into the meaning behind it. If this was, on the other hand, reality… Well, then I had much bigger problems. Reality was _not _supposed to get this strange. All I ever wanted was a normal life, with normal girl problems and normal life problems, but it seems like the older I get, the weirder things become. Hence why I typically stay at home. Why was I constantly leaving the safety of my nest as of late, anyway? This new habit hadto stop.

Ass numb from the cold, I finally forced myself to stand. I was a little shaky and woozy, but considering what had just happened I was just glad to be alive. I was definitely not going to venture out for a while. Screw getting groceries, that shit's dangerous. From now on I'm ordering takeout.

I headed back, looking around every corner and peering into every alley on the way. My senses were heightened as adrenaline continued to pump through my veins. Every single sound was amplified to the point that my own footsteps drummed loudly in my ears.

The walk back to my apartment seemed to take ten times longer than normal, and I breathed a big sigh of relief when I was finally able to lock the door to my small apartment behind myself.

I took a few minutes to clean and effectively calm myself. I didn't own much so my apartment was never more than slightly untidy. I had a small, pleather couch, a twin size bed with two sets of sheets, a nightstand, curtains for all of my two windows, a cracked glass coffee table, one chair, an average sized flat screen TV, and only the most basic of kitchen necessities.

Apartment tidied, I reached into the cabinet above my small kitchen sink and pulled out a phone book.

"_Hmm…" _I trailed my finger down the list of restaurants, trying to entice my appetite to pick something. It didn't take long for my mouth to start watering at all the appealing names. Everything sounded good right now; my stomach was starving. I decided not to go through the twenty plus pages of restaurant listings and just go with Chinese.I even decided to be a little wild and adventurous and chose a restaurant that I had not tried before.

I ordered chicken lo mein and beef and broccoli (for later). I figured it was hard to mess those up so even if the restaurant was sub-par I should at least be able to stomach the food. It was a thirty minute wait, so I plopped down onto my couch and flipped on the TV, scanning through the channels and finally settling on some random cartoon. I needed to get my mind off of the events of this morning.

It didn't take long for me to slip into a virtually vegetative state in front of the television. I sat on the couch comfortably content, laughing at the stupid puns in this senseless cartoon. Cartoons don't make much sense anymore, not like they did a decade or so ago. They're just random, pointless, and stupid, but they still amuse me.

A loud noise started me out of my TV-trance, and after a split second of confusion I recognized the noise as music. I jumped off the couch and slid across the kitchen floor to the counter, practically diving for my phone.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Ms. Morioka? This is Dr. Yoshida."

"_Shit! I missed my appointment this morning!" _I slapped my hand against my forehead. "_Stupid!"_

"You missed your appointment today, is everything alright? I know you wouldn't miss it unless something had happened."

"No I… I overslept." I lied. What was I supposed to do, tell him I was attacked by a snake-man? He'd write down 'delirious' on his notepad and send me to a psych ward.

"Are you sure?"

I could hear the doubt in his voice, but I was sticking to my story.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep last night. I didn't fall asleep til' like, seven in the morning."

"Well, if you're sure… Would you be able to come in later today? I can squeeze you in maybe this evening."

"Um, I –"

Ding-dong! My heart skipped a beat when the doorbell rang. I asked my doctor to hold on a moment as I went to the door, having almost forgotten that I had ordered food. I opened the door and was greeted instantly by a strong smell of Chinese food.

"Hi."

"….Hey."

There was a long, awkward silence as the boy stood in front of the opened door, his brown eyes fiercely glaring at me. This look was definitely not the way to increase his tip. He looked like someone from an eighty's movie, with slicked back black hair, a beat-up leather jacket, torn jeans, and very worn sneakers. He was a good head taller than me, which equated to about average male height.

"Um… so, how much do I owe you?" I fidgeted slightly under his heavy stare. What was wrong with this guy?

He stared at me for a few more seconds before briefly glancing at the receipt that was taped to the brown paper bag that contained my lunch and dinner.

"¥1431.15."

"Okay, just a sec." I quickly turned around and went to the kitchen to where I had sat my purse on the counter. Phone still to my ear, I began to rummage through my purse for my wallet. "Do you have change for a –"

I let out a light gasp as I felt someone's arms suddenly wrap around me; one arm around my torso, the other slung over my shoulder and covering my mouth with their hand. I dropped the phone and instinctively reached up for the assailants arm, but he was too strong. All I could see were the sleeves of a leather jacket, and instantly knew my attacker was the delivery man. I was too fearful to question why. I was running out of oxygen quickly, and I was starting to get very dizzy. I tried to bite down on his hand, but he had my mouth cupped in a way that it was impossible. I struggled the best I could, but it was to no avail. My vision slowly started to blur, and after several more agonizing seconds darkness started to close in.

* * *

I woke up once again to an unfamiliar setting. This was happening one to many times in my lifetime. I was kind of starting to miss my stiff and uncomfortably small twin-sized bed.

Instead of letting it be known that I had come to my senses, I kept my eyes closed and focused on the argument between two unfamiliar voices in which I seemed to be the topic of a rather heated discussion.

"What the hell, Yusuke! This is _not _a snake demon. She isn't even a demon at all, she's human! Have you _completely _lost your mind?!" The voice was very squeaky and obnoxious, I couldn't help but notice.

"She had fangs and scales on her face when I first saw her!" Yelled the second voice. "I don't know what happened."

'_Scales?' _I knew I had miraculously grown fangs, which I had somehow completely forgotten when I went to answer the door, but scales? Wait! When I answered the door… Was the second voice the delivery guy?

"Even so, the snake demon I sent out a warrant for was a _male_."

"Look at her, she looks like a twelve-year-old boy! Anyone could have made that mistake."

"Jerk…" I muttered beneath my breath, not loud enough for them to hear. Or, so I thought.

After a few moments of silence that did not seem to fit into their conversation I cracked open my eyes to find two people staring at me: the first was the delivery guy. He was still dressed like a punk, and his harsh stare matched his ratty outfit. The other person was… a child? I looked around. No one else was in the room. I looked back at the child. He was dressed strangely, and looked way too old to still be sucking on a pacifier.

"I'm sorry miss, there seems to have been some sort of confusion." My eyes widened. This child's vocabulary was amazing for his age. "We'll get this all cleared up soon. I just have to fill out some paperwork and we'll be able to send you back home and you will have no recollection of this mishap."

It took me a moment to process what the child said; I was still in shock at how properly he formed clear, coherent sentences. I'm pretty sure my jaw hung open a little bit, because when I finally replayed what he had said to me in my head I swallowed a large wad of saliva.

"No recollection?"

"Hey, baby-breath." The delivery boy snapped. "Are you even going to try and figure out why this girl over here grew fangs and scales? I'm not delirious, I know what I saw."

"Miss, do you have any idea what Yusuke," he gestured to the delivery boy, "might be talking about?"

"Um…" I debated for a moment whether or not to tell the truth. It just seemed to be a whole lot of explaining to do, and it was a pretty unbelievable story so I would just look like a crazy person if I told them. But then, I was speaking to a child who spoke about doing paperwork, and I was in a large room of some sort. And I was sitting in a chair, tied up.

Tied up?!

How the hell did I not notice this sooner?!

"Seriously? What the fuck is going on lately? I just want my life back to normal!" I fumed and gritted my teeth. More to myself than to them, I muttered darkly beneath my breath, "First Kuwabara drags me back to his weird friend's house, then I get attacked by a fucking weirdo and grow fangs, and now I'm tied up in a chair talking to a fucking toddler who has the vocabulary of an adult. I really hope this is just some weird dream."

"Did you just say Kuwabara?"

I looked up at the delivery boy – what was his name, Yusuke? His look had changed from angered and irritable to irritable and suspicious.

"What about it?" I snapped. My patience was wearing thin from the past few days. I was ready for this dream to end.

They drilled me for more information and I, not wanting to sit here all day, agreed to explain the past few days' events beginning from when I met Kuwabara on the condition that they let me out of these annoying and unnecessary ropes. When I finished explaining, they both looked to be in deep thought. Their demeanor had completely changed and I was no longer being glared at. They spoke amongst themselves in hushed voices for about ten minutes as I sat in mild annoyance about half a room-length across from them. This was probably the most attention anyone had paid me in years, and I wasn't welcoming it. I let out a sigh of irritation. I hated being talked about as if I wasn't currently in the room. Another ten minutes past before one of them finally re-acknowledged my presence.

"Miss, um…"

"Suri Morioka."

"Miss Morioka, have you ever experienced any form of metamorphosis before?" The child looked at me seriously.

"No."

"Hmm… I see. Have you ever had any encounters prior to this morning with a person who did not seem quite… human?"

"Nope, my life's been pretty uneventful before the last two days. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to said normalcy. Good bye." I got out of the chair and stood to leave, but I didn't get more than a few steps before I felt a firm grip on my shoulder. I turned around and glared at Yusuke. "I swear I will have you arrested for kidnapping if you don't let me go right now."

"You're not going anywhere, short stuff."

"You always this physical with women?" I sneered sarcastically, "How charming."

"Tch." He let go of my shoulder, much to my surprise. "I wouldn't consider you much of a –"

"What?" I raised an eyebrow challengingly and he instantly shut his mouth. It would seem that there was a woman in his life who had him trained; the way his jaw snapped shut was almost instinctive. "Yeah. That's what I thought."

"Miss Morioka," I rolled my eyes over to the child. "I'm afraid I can't allow you to leave just yet."

"_Allow _me to leave?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Listen kid, I don't know what the hell is going on, but if you think that you have authority over me then you've lost your pre-adolescent mind."

"I'll have you know that I _am_ in charge of the Spirit World and I _do _have authority over you!"

I ignored his almost-tantrum, instead wondering what the fuck a "Spirit World?" was.

And thus began more explanations. This child spoke of three different worlds – the Human World, Spirit World, and Demon World, and how they were all in a way connected or something like that. He told me about ghosts and the spirit guides and other details about the world of the dead that I couldn't even hope to remember by the time he had finished his monologue. He also spoke much of demons and apparitions which, from the way he described them, I imagined as the adult versions of the monsters that hid under my bed when I was a child. Now, normally I wouldn't have believed a word of what I just heard; I would have laughed and asked him which psych ward I should return him to. This was normally though, and I had no hope left for a normal.

"Sooo… why am I here then?" I asked hesitantly, kind of not wanting to know the answer.

"By accident, initially." The child rummaged through his desk and pulled out some paperwork, which he immediately began filling out. "But it seems that there is something abnormal going on here, and until I can figure exactly why you briefly inherited demonic traits, you're going to have to remain under strict supervision from one of my agents."

I looked instantly to Yusuke. A sickening feeling had rudely kicked me in the gut and I began to pray that this guy wasn't one of his agents. I did not want to be around him after he had choked me out and kidnapped me.

The child paged someone through a speaker on his desk, and moments later the bubbliest woman I had ever met literally came bouncing through the doors.

"Good afternoon, Koenma sir!" She greeted cheerfully, her pink eyes sparkling and her blue pony tail bouncing behind her. It just now occurred to me when she greeted him that I had never asked for the child's name. "Botan, at your service!"

"Hello, Botan."

They exchanged pleasantries briefly before cutting right to it: my body was doing something weird and they needed to figure out why, and apparently I was not allowed to be at home or on my own while this process of figuring stuff out goes on. I was too tired, and hungry I just realized, to argue. Yeah, my willpower sucks when my life isn't at stake.

"Okay, Suri," I looked up at Botan's cheerful face; she had her hand outstretched towards me. "If you'll just come with me, I'll take you to where you'll be staying and I'll introduce you to the agent who will be watching over you."

* * *

I didn't understand why I wasn't allowed to bring my belongings. Apparently someone was going to be sent to retrieve them, which I was totally not cool with. I argued for nearly a half hour about it, but I eventually lost the battle. Even after the introductions were over, and let me tell you that both Botan and I were really surprised to find out I already knew my agent, I was still fuming about it.

"I'm sorry, this must be rough for you."

"You don't have to apologize, it's not your fault Kuwabara."

We sat across from each other on our respective couches, a small coffee table separating us. Botan had left back to the Spirit World, leaving the two of us to make small talk.

"So," I sighed. "What is this place?"

"It used to belong to an old mentor of ours – me and my friends. You met two of them already, Kurama and Yusuke."

"Yeah, I didn't like Yusuke. He was kind of an ass."

"He's a punk but he's got a good heart. It's Hiei that's an ass, but he's a good friend too. Everyone has their own little quirks but that's what makes them who they are."

"So why does Kurama go by Shuichi?" I asked curiously.

"That's not my story to tell," Kuwabara went back to my original question, "but anyway, our old mentor's name was Genkai. She was one of the most powerful psychics ever. She trained Yusuke for the Dark Tournament and she helped me out a lot too. She passed away recently, but she left this estate to the four of us under the request that we honor her wish: she wanted this place to be a safe haven for demons and humans."

"All this was hers?"

"Yeah."

"Damn."

"It's too bad you couldn't meet her. She was a great teacher, even though some of her methods were a bit… questionable." He laughed lightly, but I could tell it hurt him to talk about her so I changed the subject.

"So…" I debated a moment on what to say. "This is just a hunch, but is this whole other world stuff the reason you couldn't tell me about how you met Yukina?"

The way his eyes lit up answered my question before his mouth could. I listened to his passionate story with amusement. He was definitely an animated character. I had to admit, if he had told me this story two days ago I would not have believed him. Today, however, I found his story intriguing.

"That's amazing, Kuwabara." I smiled, "I'm glad she has someone like you to take care of her and protect her."

"Thanks, but I'm the lucky one."

We chatted well into the night. I was actually glad that Kuwabara was some secret otherworld agent, because he was probably the only person I felt comfortable with. It wasn't until we heard a door open at the front of the estate that we realized just how late it was.

"About time," Kuwabara stood up to greet the guest. "It's already one in the morning!"

He disappeared momentarily and re-entered the room with Kurama at his side. Kurama had two backpacks and a sports bag full of what I assumed were my belongings.

"Hello, Suri."

"Hey…" I didn't know what it was about him, but I felt very untrusting and suspicious around his presence. Maybe it was his eerily collected behavior, or his ever-calculating eyes, or his perfect and carefully selected speech, but there was definitely _something _off about him that really bothered me.

"I brought what I could of your belongings, where would you like me to set them?"

"Um," I scratched the back of my head. "I don't know. I'm not sure where I'm sleeping."

"Oh!" Kuwabara stood up in one swift motion. "Sorry, Suri. I was so busy talking I forgot to show you your room."

They led me through the estate, giving me a brief tour as we made our way towards a few of the many, many bedrooms. Seriously, this place should come with a map. I would probably get lost just trying to find my way to a bathroom. How did their mentor come to own such a massive place?

My room was in the middle of the estate, thankfully with a bathroom attached. It was a decent sized room and looked to be already set up for guests. It had a full-sized bed with a plush bed set, a nightstand with a lamp and alarm clock, a pretty generous closet, a clothing drawer, and towels and toiletries for the bedroom.

"Get some rest; we have a lot to do tomorrow morning." Kurama set my stuff down beside the closet, "Good night, Suri."

"Night."

"Night, Suri."

"Good night, Kuwabara."

They left me to unpack, with no directions back to the common area. Guess I was going to go on a small adventure in the morning to try and find my way to the dining area. Or I would just stay in my room until they came and got me. But anyway, I began hanging up my clothes with the provided hangers that were already in the closet, but half way through my first bag I got tired of being neat and orderly and just threw the backpacks into the closet. It was too late to unpack, anyway.

I rinsed off in the shower before slipping into a t-shirt and fresh underwear and going to bed. Kurama was high if he thought I was getting up in the morning. It was already 1:30; I wasn't getting up until at least the early afternoon.

* * *

It should go without saying that I did end up getting up prior to noon, but not by choice. I don't even know how to begin to describe what happened - I had never felt something like this before. I was used to pain, but this kind of pain was unfamiliar. Usually I would wake up sweating, my insides feeling like they were on fire and my head feeling as if it was about to implode. This morning was different, though. I felt an uncomfortable tingling feeling all over as if my entire body was 'asleep' - you know, like when you unknowingly sleep on your arm all night and it becomes numb and tingly the following morning. The hair on the back of my neck was on end and I was having a hard time breathing. I felt something slither and writhe beneath my skin, and it felt like another something was literally trying to tear its way out of my stomach. I wanted to cry, to scream, but my throat closed shut every time I tried to let out even a single breath.

In a panic I tossed the sheets off myself and scrambled to the closet. My vision had not been effected yet, surprisingly. I searched through my backpack in hopes that Kurama had found and grabbed my medicine from the bathroom.

Nothing in bag one.

I checked the sports bag next and was relieved to find it filled with all my medicine. I went to grab my emergency bottle, but found that my hands had suddenly gone completely numb and I was incapable of holding the bottle, let alone opening it.

I needed to find someone to help, and fast.

I tried to stand up, but my legs were numb too. They wouldn't move. Everything was going numb.

There was nothing I could do but sit there, fear-stricken, praying to survive. I felt like a prisoner in my own body. I could not get it to do a single thing I wanted it to.

An intense pain in my chest caused me to let out a piercing scream, but it was cut short as my throat quickly tightened around my vocal chords almost like I was being strangled. It was like I was a puppet, being controlled by some evil force, and whoever was controlling the puppet was enjoying my torture - they did not want anyone to come to my rescue.

I doubled over as my body began to violently convulse, and the next thing I knew I was throwing up a lot of things that I knew for sure had not been in my stomach earlier. As soon as I finished vomiting I felt released, and I could suddenly move again. I was panting heavily on all fours, sweat and tears rolling down my face.

I peered down at what I had thrown up and threw myself back when the disgusting mass of dark brown puke suddenly moved. I stared in shock as it moved again, almost like a heartbeat.

"What the..." I gasped, backing away from it.

I was sure of it, it was beating like a heart. Whatever the fuck I threw up was beating like a fucking heart.

Footsteps pounded, coming closer and closer, and the next thing I knew the door swung wide open.

"Suri! We heard you scream, are you okay?" Kuwabara was standing at the door and his eyes quickly traveled from me to the puke. The beating stopped.

Kurama came up behind him, but the instant he got to the door he fainted.

"Kurama!"

I couldn't even focus on Kurama, I was too worried about why my vomit had just moved. I didn't just imagine that, right? It fucking moved. Did that really come out of me? My mind was running at a million miles an hour, and I could hear my heart beating in my head... although barely... It was beating weakly, as if it was about to die. I was on an adrenaline high, shouldn't it be beating like crazy? What the hell is going on with my body?

God, I really hope this is a dream.

* * *

_Things are about to get exciting this coming chapter, I promise! Thanks for sticking with me guys – it's nice to know I'm not just writing this story for myself. :)_


	4. 04: Suicide Mission

**Bloodprints**

04: Suicide Mission

* * *

"Is he still out?"

Kurama had been unconscious for the past two hours after the odor of my vomit had once again knocked him out. I didn't know why he was so sensitive to it, but I had to admit the smell was pretty putrid. I had a pretty hard time cleaning it up – not just because of the smell, but also because I was paranoid that the vomit would suddenly start pulsing again. I spent a good five minutes slowly reaching towards it, my hand wrapped loosely in plastic bags, only to jerk my hand back in apprehension at every attempt. After I had finally managed cleaned it up I wrapped the puke in at least a dozen plastic bags before tossing it into the trash bin outside.

"Yeah," Kuwabara seemed to be deep in thought as he munched away at his sandwich, his elbows resting on the kitchen diner table. He was no doubt concerned about his friend.

I joined him at the table after making my own sandwich and we sat in silence for several minutes, leaving each other to our own thoughts. I couldn't help but keep thinking back to the way that nasty mess of vomit beat like a heart. It was disturbing in so many ways. What freaked me out even more than the pulsing vomit though was the way my heart was barely beating after I had thrown up. Even now I could barely feel its beat; it felt like it was just sitting there inside my chest like a seasoned couch potato, too lazy to pump out any fresh blood.

"I don't get it," Kuwabara said after he finished his lunch, snapping me out of my daze. "Kurama has smelled way worse before. Believe me, I was there with him. I can't even begin to describe how awful some places in Demon World smell. I mean, I know he's got a sensitive nose and everything, but he's never passed out from a bad smell before."

"Maybe I really am contagious." I muttered solemnly. Kuwabara just chuckled.

"Nah, I doubt it." He stood up and patted me on the back as he started to head out of the kitchen. "I'm gonna go check on him."

I shoved the rest of the sandwich into my mouth and wiped the crumbs off the table before making my way back to my designated room. I managed to get to my room without getting lost and decided to kill some time by setting up the rest of my belongings, most of which were clothes and medicine. I set up all the medicine in the mirrored cabinet above the bathroom sink, hung up all my clothes in the closet, and proceeded to fish through the remaining items in the three bags. I found my laptop and its charger, headphones, digital camera and its charger, a notebook, pens and pencils, hardly worn cosmetics, and lastly my cellphone and charger. I flipped open my cheap phone and scrolled through several alerts on my phone. Two alarms had gone off, I missed an appointment, and I had several text messages, missed calls, and voicemails from my doctor.

"_He must be worried," _I frowned. I debated on calling him back, but what was I going to tell him? I was a terrible liar and I would need one hell of an excuse to explain my behavior and why I would not be able to make any appointments for an indefinite period of time. I snapped the phone shut and put it on the nightstand beside the alarm clock. Maybe it would be best if he thought I was dead – it was only a matter of time anyway.

I made my bed, grabbed my notebook, a pencil, and left my room. If I was going to be staying here for a while I might as well get to know the temple. I headed the opposite way of the kitchen, scribbling a half-assed map into my notebook as I began to explore the large estate. I spent nearly an hour doing this. I counted thirty-seven rooms, eleven detached bathrooms, twelve bathrooms attached to rooms, four common areas, two kitchens, seven storage cabinets, six entrances, and six locked doors. I ended my self-guided tour in the main common area where Kuwabara and Kurama – who was finally conscious – were sitting.

"Hey." I shut the notebook and slipped the pencil into the spiraled binding. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel a little nauseous but much better than before, thank you for asking." Kurama flashed me a smile and I thought I was going to be nauseous myself. He was artificially sweet and way too well-mannered. I think I'm going to call him Splenda from now on: an artificial sweetener with hidden risks and dangers.

"Good to hear."

"Would you like to take a seat?"

"_Not really,"_ I thought, but "Sure."

I sat on the couch across from Splenda and diagonal from the loveseat that Kuwabara was occupying. I was about to prop my feet up on the coffee table out of habit, but then quickly remembered I was a guest here and fought the urge to do so.

"I started researching your condition, and have come up with a few theories but need further information in order to come to a conclusive theory. In order to do this I will need your full cooperation."

"Yeah, sure."

"The first thing we need to do is get you to inherit demonic traits, as that will be the key to solving this mystery illness."

"It's not a mystery illness," I retorted, "I'm allergic to my blood."

"With the symptoms you've been having it is highly unlikely that that is the case. There is something else going on within your body."

"Yeah, like what?" I snapped. This guy really got under my skin, I couldn't even tell you why. There are always one or ten people in your life that have that effect on you.

"I cannot say absolutely yet, however I have come up with a few possibilities. Keep in mind that these are just possibilities at the moment, and not a diagnosis." He waited for me to acknowledge what he said with a slight nod before continuing. "The first and more likely cause of your illness is a demonic parasite. Since they are generally small they can be hard to detect, especially when they have taken up residence inside a human body. These parasites consume the human insides in order to use the body as a host. I'm not sure if you are aware of this, but what you have been throwing up are rotten remnants of your internal organs."

"Come again?" I was surprised to hear that last matter-of-factly statement, but oddly enough I wasn't completely shocked. With all the other news I've been presented with as of recently I can't say that I could imagine anything that would come as a complete an utter shock to me. I thought about what Kurama said, about my organs rotting and all. It was a bit disturbing. I didn't want to believe him, but it did explain why I was throwing up foul-smelling things that had definitely not been in my stomach before. The image of the pulsing vomit presented itself in the forefront of my mind and I suddenly had a realization. _"So that must mean…"_

"The other _less_ likely option," Kurama continued, "is that a demon soul is trying to gain possession of your body. The demon soul works in similar ways as the parasite – discarding human internals and the soul in order to take over the body. The only difference is the demon soul can infuse with the human flesh, turning it demonic in a sense. Neither of these options explain why you inherited demonic traits, however, which is why I need to do more research starting as soon as possible."

"So," I shook my head clear of the repulsive images. "Either way, it looks like my body is being hijacked."

"It appears that way," Kurama spoke carefully, watching my reaction closely, "However there are still bound to be other likely options depending on the reason why you have the ability to possess demonic traits."

I finally took a moment to let the information sink in. It wasn't good news by any means, but then it's not like I was expecting any. I sighed deeply.

"So," I didn't dare look him in the eyes, dreading what he might have to say next. "What happens now?"

"We recreate the event in which you gained demonic traits."

* * *

It was dark as night, despite being mid-day and a comfortable eighty degrees outside in the sun. The trees above me formed a thick canopy, blocking out virtually all sunlight and effectively cutting the temperature in half. I could see just enough in front of me to not walk straight into a tree, but my legs were stiff from fear and I kept tripping over roots. I could not believe I let them talk me into this.

I had goosebumps on every inch of my skin, my hair was on end, and I was breaking out in a cold sweat, but my pulse remained ever so faint; my entire body knew that I had every right to be terrified except my heart, which seemed to have missed the memo. I could hardly feel its presence.

"Am I dead already and this is all just a bad dream?" I pressed my palm against my chest, hoping to feel even a slight heartbeat, but the more I concentrated on trying to find it the further it seemed to shrink away. I pressed two fingers against the inside of my wrist, but still nothing. "Well, at least if I'm already dead I don't have to worry about being killed, right? Can dead people even dream? Is this the afterlife?"

I shook my head to clear my racing thoughts. I had to concentrate if I wanted to survive, even if this was potentially the afterlife.

"_We will be close behind you; if it gets too dangerous we will intervene," _they said. I looked back into the darkness and prayed that they would keep their word.

I continued to walk forward at a slow, stiff pace, supporting my trembling frame against each tree that I passed. The only thoughts playing over and over in my head that were keeping my legs from completely giving out beneath me were: "this is just a dream, this is just a dream, this is just a dream." If this wasn't a dream, I was stupid and apparently suicidal for purposely searching within a dark, scary forest for a demon to attack me.

"_In order to recreate the effect we need to simulate the experience as much as possible which, in this case, means that you need to fear for your life," _they said.

"Ah!" I yelped as I stubbed my toe against what felt like the hundredth rock-hard tree root. I bit my tongue in an attempt to prevent myself from slurring out a string of profanity. I had half a mind to turn back, but I wasn't even sure which direction I was going in anymore. There was no path, no string of trail markers, and no cluster of neon signs to guide me back. If Kuwabara and Splenda weren't following me after all, then I would never make it out of here.

The forest was eerily quiet and every step amplified within my eardrums. I began to hum a random tune in order to calm my nerves and balance out the sound of my footsteps, which worked for all of about two minutes.

A soft 'snap' stopped me dead in my tracks. My eyes widened and I stared straight ahead of me in the direction the noise came from. Holding my breath, I slowly inched forward, my body shaking harder with each step. Another 'crunch' sound from in front of me, this one closer. I crept closer and closer, until finally –

"Just a deer…" I literally felt my entire chest deflate like used up balloon. My body went from feeling anxious and tight to weak and rubbery in an instant. Straightening up my shoulders, I stared blankly into the wild eyes of the deer. I think I scared it just as much as it had scared me. I contemplated yelling at it for a moment for giving me such a fright, but quickly realized how stupid an idea that would be considering my current situation and instead just waved my arms at it wildly. Its eyes widened dramatically and it took off, bounding with great leaps in the opposite direction. I couldn't help but wonder how the hell it wasn't running into any trees.

I trudged onwards, fear once against welling up inside me and tightening all my movements. There was no telling how long I had to keep walking, or if I would ever make it out alive. As much as I tried not to think about it, it was hard not to forget that I was on a suicide mission.

"_If they don't get me out of this I swear I'll haunt them in my dreams." _I thought darkly. As I pressed deeper into the forest the temperature continued to fall until eventually I had an army of goosebumps on every inch of my skin. I breathed shakily and caught a glimpse of white air drifting from my mouth. I wouldn't be able to go much further, I would literally freeze to death – and that was not the way I was supposed to try and die today.

I rubbed my hands up and down my arms in a hopeless attempt to keep warm. The tips of my ears, nose, and fingertips were already starting to become numb. Kuwabara and Kurama had failed to mention just how cold this forest got. They let me walk into this freezing forest wearing jeans and a hoodie, when I should be decked out in full winter gear.

"That's it, screw this." I went to turn around when I caught a glimpse of an all-too familiar color in the corner of my eye. Squinting my eyes, like that would help, I slowly continued forward and slightly to the right. Something was not right here, and damn my curiosity for making me go investigate.

I stopped a few feet short of the object that had raised my curiosity and swallowed hard when I finally recognized said object. It looked different than it had just a few short minutes ago.

The deer was no longer standing, or alive for that matter. Judging by the markings on the ground it had been knocked down hard, and it was definitely not caused by a run-in with a tree. It had slid a few feet before coming to an abrupt stop against the trunk of a tree. Its neck was so torn apart that its spine was showing, its head nearly decapitated from the body. Its throat had been brutally ripped out and gnawed on. There were large slashes along the remainder of its neck and a few on its shoulders. Its eyes bulged wide in horror and it sent a wave of pure terror down my spine. Something big got to this deer, and I'll be lucky if it was only a bear.

I looked around wildly, panic starting to set in. These wounds were fresh, and by the looks of it whatever had got to this deer hadn't even begun feasting on it – my guess was either because it only hunted for sport, or because something had distracted it momentarily.

Something told me I had been that distraction.

I began to back up, eyes darting every which direction but seeing nothing but blackness anything more than ten feet out, and it should come as no surprise that I quickly managed to back up right against the rough bark of tree. I held my breath, paralyzed in fear, staring at the corpse of the deer that was alive just a few minutes ago.

"K… Kuwabara." I whispered; I didn't dare raise my voice another decibel. "Please, get me out of here. I'm scared."

I heard leaves crunching behind me and whipped around. "Kuwabara?"

Silence. I stood there for what felt like an eternity but all I heard was an eerie, haunting, foreboding silence… and yet I had a sinister feeling that I was not alone.

"Kuwabara…"

Crunch...

"Is that you?"

Crunch...

"Kuwabara?"

Crunch…

I held my breath. Every time I spoke the sound of crunching leaves would get closer. Maybe it was best if I just shut up and tried to find my way out of this hellhole.

I took a step back and felt something wet beneath my foot. I cringed when I realized I was standing in a pool of the deer's blood, but did my best not to make a single peep. I had to be quiet, I had to –

A loud screech suddenly pierced my eardrums and I brought both my hands up to my ears. It startled me so bad I was sure I was screaming, my eyes shut tight, but I couldn't hear anything over the high-pitched wail that seemed to be coming from every direction of the forest.

The screech lasted for several agonizing seconds, and when it finally came to an abrupt silence I fell to my knees. I could feel a warm liquid seeping from my ears, and it would come as no surprise to me if I was now deaf. I also felt like there were hundreds of glass shards embedded in my brain.

I opened my eyes slowly, still grimacing from the pain. The ear-piercing sound could have definitely broken glass and there was no way that my hearing would fully recover from this. I looked around, waiting for another noise, but I couldn't hear anything.

"Kuwabara?" I spoke quietly. I couldn't hear myself, so I shouted "Kuwabara!"

I barely heard myself that time. It sounded like I was a hundred feet under water and my words sounded muffled and distorted. I stood up quickly, nearly slipping on the blood, and was about to shout again when I felt hot air sweeping down my neck.

That was definitely not Kuwabara.

I dared myself to turn around, and when I did I stumbled back and fell on my ass.

What the hell was that thing?!

It was even freakier than snake-man! It had hellish features – it must have been the devil himself! Charcoal skin, large, bat-like wings that were charred and torn, two horns on its gargoyle-like head – one of which had been broken half way, clawed hands and feet, and a spiked tail. It mouth, which was hanging open, could easily fit my whole head. Its razor-sharp teeth were dripping with saliva and its breath smelled almost as foul as my rotting organs.

Instinct took over and I booked it the other direction, scraping past trees and tripping over roots, but somehow I managed not to fall or run head-on into a tree. I had no idea which way I was going, but at this point all I cared about was getting as far away from that freaky demon as possible. I didn't hear it chasing me, but I wasn't going to risk slowing down. I kept running as fast as I could, dodging trees every few seconds.

Nearly out of breath I saw a sliver of light in the distance and was instantly filled with a wave of relief. I was headed in the right direction! I was almost out of the forest! I pushed myself harder, scrambling and barely managing not to run into a tree, when SMACK!

I fell back with a thud. I had landed on my back and it took a few moments for me to regain the breath that had just gotten knocked out of me. In case you didn't know, trees don't move, and they're not made of shock-absorbent material either.

I stood up shakily, only to come face to face with the demon I had just exhausted nearly all of my energy running from.

Apparently eight-foot tall demons remain pretty stationary upon impact also.

I swallowed what little I could of my fear and managed to maintain my calm long enough to formulate a plan. I was going to dash around him and make a run for it.

It was fool-proof.

I made a mad run for it, but the demon was quicker. He swung out his arm and sent me flying backwards into a tree, once again knocking the wind out of me. A few tears rolled down my cheeks as the pain started to really sink in. Bodies weren't meant to handle this kind of abuse. One more hit like that and I was sure to break.

I tried to call for Kuwabara but I couldn't summon enough breath to even whisper. If... _When_ I die, I'm going to haunt those two bastards every night for the rest of their lives. I should have known. That Kurama had it out for me since day one, didn't he? I knew there was a reason I didn't trust him. This was all his idea after all!

The demon walked towards me slowly, like it had no worries about me escaping. It had its prey right where it wanted it and it knew I wasn't going anywhere. My body could not move. I was in so much pain I couldn't even move my fingertips. Maybe that hit already broke me – maybe I was paralyzed.

Fuck.

Tears were now streaming steadily down my face. This is not the way I wanted to die, but it didn't look like I had much of a choice. I closed my eyes and did my best to try and think of my happiest memory. This devil may be able to take my life, but I'll be damned if he gets the best of my mind too.

I was thankful now for being nearly deaf. I could not hear the twigs snapping beneath the demon's grotesque feet as it approached me. All I could do was hope that my death would be quick so that I would not feel much. I squeezed my eyes tighter, focusing on slipping into what was perhaps my only treasured memory.

_[[I believe I was four at the time. I can't recall the event exactly as it happened, but I do remember that I had somehow ended up alone on the streets. It was a warm day; I was in flip-flops and an adorable flower-print sundress. I had long, somewhat healthy brown hair at that age and my hazel eyes were still bright and full of life. I was walking down the sidewalk, humming my favorite lullaby, when I stumbled upon a small park. There were many kids playing in the park, something I had never witnessed before. Usually, my mother would only take me to parks in the late evening when all the other kids were already home. I stood there staring for a while, just watching the kids play. But there was one boy who wasn't playing with the rest of the children. He just sat on the bench, staring back at me._

_We stared at each other for a while, his green eyes looking blankly into mine. Having the attention span of a four-year-old I quickly ended up getting bored and shifted my attention back to the playing children. After a few minutes, my desire to join the kids at play reached its peak and I ran up to the first group of kids that I saw._

_It was a group of boys, two of which seemed to be my age and the third a little older. I intruded on their game, I can't remember what they were playing, and the older kid pushed me hard. I scraped my hand against one of the pieces of playground equipment as I fell on my bum and instantly started to cry. The boys called me a "stupid girl' and left to continue their game elsewhere. As I continued to cry about my scraped elbow, I felt a small hand on my shoulder._

_The boy with the green eyes had come over. He kneeled beside me wordlessly before reaching for my elbow._

"_Don't touch!" I pulled my arm back, sniffling. "You'll get sick just like me."_

_The boy looked at me for a second, then quickly grabbed my arm._

"_You'll get sick!"_

"_Hold still." The boy stated firmly, a hint of irritation present in his voice. He used the hem of his shirt to wipe some of the dirt off my freshly scraped elbow. "There's a fountain on the other side of the park, let's go wash out the rest of the dirt."_

"_Okay."_

_I followed the boy wordlessly across the park. He looked to be a little older than me, but not by much. We arrived at the drinking fountain and he finished cleaning my elbow._

"_There, you're all better now."_

"_Thank you." I remember suddenly becoming shy in front of him, and without even asking a name I told him "bye" and scurried off._

_To most people, this would just be another memory. But to me, an act of kindness by a stranger is a moment I cherish forever. That boy was the only child that didn't care about my cooties.]]_

The memory was over and I somehow felt a lot calmer. I was ready to embrace a quick death now, though the demon seemed to have other plans. It was taking its sweet-ass time to come kill me. Against my better judgment, I opened my eyes to see how close it was.

It was right in front of me. Although I should probably add that it was in two pieces.

I then noticed Kurama kneeling beside me, his emerald green eyes boring into mine. Kuwabara was on my other side, shaking my shoulder. He seemed to be trying to talk to me, but my hearing was still shot.

It took me a moment to stop focusing on the devil-demon in front of me, but I eventually convinced myself that it was definitely dead and no longer a threat. I looked at Kuwabara and pointed to my ears, which still had blood in them, and by the look in his face he seemed to understand. He turned to Kurama and said something before taking off, leaving Kurama to scoop me up and carry me the rest of the way out of the forest. Under other circumstances I would have been struggling to get away from him, but in this case I just felt relieved that I would live another day. And I had to admit, being in his arms did feel pretty safe.

We rejoined Kuwabara at the shrine. Kurama had carried me to my room and laid me gently on the bed. Kuwabara was already standing at the foot of my bed with a girl I hadn't seen before.

Her hair was turquoise and tied up in a red ribbon. Her eyes were blood-red, but despite their color they looked kind. She waited for Kurama to set me down before coming to my side. She placed her hands over me and they started to glow; had I not been paralyzed I probably would have jumped away in mild shock. There was a cool sensation as she moved from my head to my toes and back several times, and with each pass I started to feel a little better. It started with me being able to move my fingers, then my arms, and finally the rest of my body.

"There."

I could hear again too!

"You're all better." She smiled sweetly and I couldn't help but smile back.

"That was amazing, how did you do that?"

"It's a common trait for ice apparitions."

I stayed silent for a moment, surprised to hear that she was also a demon. She was the complete opposite of the one that I had just faced. Aside from her insane red eyes and turquoise hair she actually looked human. I glanced briefly over at Kurama. I couldn't help but wonder if he was an apparition too…

"That's quite a handy gift." I said finally. "Thank you, um…"

"Oh, my, I'm sorry. My name is Yukina."

"_You're _Yukina?" My jaw dropped. "Kuwabara has told me so much about you! I'm so glad to finally meet you!"

"Thank you, it's nice to meet you too."

"Suri," I sighed as I looked over at Kurama, expecting him to start drilling me with questions. "I'm sorry to have put you in that position. I was in a hurry to find answers and jeopardized your life and for that I sincerely apologize."

"Oh." I was not expecting an apology. "Um. It's fine. It's not like you forced me to. I mean, I kind of agreed to it."

"Either way, you are not ready for such an extreme test. We will start slow. I'll give you a day to recuperate and then we can begin on your training, which is what I should have done in the first place. I promise I won't send you into that forest again until you're ready."

With that he left the room, leaving Kuwabara to explain his behavior.

"His mom's sick." Kuwabara frowned. "Kurama really loves his mother, but until we figure out what's going on with you – or until we know that whatever is inside you or going on with you or whatever is not dangerous – he's not allowed to go back and take care of her. That's why he rushed you. He just wants to make sure his mom's okay. I shouldn't have let him talk you into it."

"Oh."

"Anyway, rest up kid. We won't be sending you up against any killer demons, but training isn't gonna be a walk in the park either."

"Great. Can't wait."

* * *

"I can't believe you haven't figured it out yet."

Kurama repressed a sigh, flipping through the pages of one of the many books he had stacked upon his desk. He stopped on one of the pages and scribbled into a spiraled notebook that was already close to being filled with ink.

"What do you mean?" Kurama didn't even glance up at his not so surprising surprise visitor.

"Hn. It's obvious."

"I'm not in the mood for games, Hiei." Kurama switched to another book, putting the one he had just skimmed through aside. "What is it?"

There was a minute of silence and Kurama finally looked up, emerald green eyes meeting fierce red. Hiei slid lightly from the window sill and casually approached the desk.

"I know what is going on with that little project of yours."

"Suri?" Kurama raised an eyebrow. "How could you possibly know? You haven't even been assigned to this case."

"You kept the files on your desk." He sneered, then added, "I watched the whole thing earlier. Did you really think that would work?"

"Hiei, I'm really not in the mood." Kurama rubbed his temples. It was never straightforward with his black-clad friend. "If you don't have any useful information, please stay quiet."

It was silent for about ten minutes. The only sounds were of pages being flipped, a pen scribbling on notebook paper, and the occasional frustrated sigh. Soon a breeze filled the room, lightly shuffling the loose papers on the desk. Hiei stood on the edge of the window sill, poised to leap, but he had one last thing to say, and he knew it was going to drive the fox crazy.

"You're not going to find your answers in a science book."


	5. 05: Transformation

Thank you guys sooo much for the reviews and for sticking with this story! I know I'm not the fastest writer/updater, but I do try to make every chapter interesting – and you have no idea how happy it makes me to hear feedback! :) Thank you!

**Bloodprints**

05: Transformation

* * *

_The sky was blood red and smoldering. Specks of ember slowly drifted down from the blackened clouds and set the parched grounds ablaze. Screams of anguish echoed through the hazy air while burning corpses continued to thicken the atmosphere. Trees turned into firewood around what was left of the small village. Buildings framed with wood crackled and fell apart beneath the heat of the flames that consumed them, scattering ashes and embers when they finally collapsed. Only one building was still standing tall – a church made of stone as old as the village itself, and on top of the church was a wooden cross upon which a shadowed figure sat and calmly watched the chaos beneath. If you listened closely over the screams and collapsing buildings, you could even hear it chuckling madly, seemingly amused by the horror show ensuing beneath it._

_I found myself in the middle of this carnage in a small and unfamiliar body, staring up at the cross that was supposed to keep watch over the village. People ran past me, some in flames, tripping over charred corpses as they scrambled to find a way out of this oven. I wanted to join them, I wanted to find a way out, but I couldn't pry my eyes away from the church. What had we done to upset he who watched over us? I could feel my faith burning away alongside the village._

_As the flames closed in I became weaker. I sank to my knees as the sweltering heat started to become unbearable, but still my eyes remained glued to the cross. It was then that the silhouette's features became noticeable. It must have been the devil himself, come up from the fiery pits of hell take our home and everyone along with it. _

_What had we done to prompt such wrath?_

_My eyes began to drift closed as the thick, hot air slowly barred my throat and restricted my breathing. Maybe if I had been screaming along with the rest of the villagers my air passages would still have been somewhat clear, but then I was grateful that I was losing consciousness; I could only somewhat feel the flames creeping up the hem of my nightgown._

You know you have a lot of nightmares when you don't even wake up in a fright.

I sat up in my bed with a sigh, tugging at the sweat-soaked collar of my nightshirt that was clinging to my neck. I had a skull-splitting headache and my skin was tingling, but I didn't feel like I was on fire or as if I was about to throw up, and strangely enough I didn't feel the least bit faint. I didn't wake up feeling this good too often.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. As promised, I was allowed to relax and I spent most of the day sunbathing outside, sprawled on a blanket that I had laid over the lush green grass. It was peaceful here. Well, minus the forest; I stayed a good distance away from that. The sun was feeling generous today and shone its warm rays down upon the shrine all day, and not a single cloud to interrupt the sunlight. It was one of the most relaxing days I had had in my lifetime, and it seemed like the sun was setting in no time.

Dinner was also pretty uneventful. Kurama had decided not to join us, but Botan came to visit. She and Yukina had cooked an amazing meal and afterwards Kuwabara and I cleaned up. We chatted for a bit and I went to bed, dreading what kind of torture they had in store for me the following day.

**[The Following Morning]**

It was still dark out when Kuwabara had woken me up. The only thing that had prevented me from turning into Grumpzilla was the thought that my attitude might very well have repercussions during training, and so I literally bit down on my tongue in order to prevent myself from saying anything snarky. I got out of bed without a fight and met up with Kuwabara and Kurama in the kitchen at 5:00 a.m. sharp.

"I would suggest eating something light." Was the first thing out of Kurama's mouth, who appeared to have just finished up his breakfast.

"_Good morning to you, too." _I thought sarcastically. I swiped a granola bar from the pantry and leaned against the kitchen counter, not wanting to sit at the table with Kurama. "Good morning, Kuwabara."

"Morning, Suri."

"Also," I glared at Kurama in annoyance as he continued to fail to say good morning, "I prepared a drink for you. It will help prevent you from getting exhausted too quickly. It's in a clear glass in the fridge."

"No thanks, I'll just have some water."

"It's mandatory."

I crunched down with all my might on the piece of granola bar I had just taken a bite of and ground my teeth. Originally, I had pictured this guy to be way too well-mannered and polite, but ever since we got to this temple he has been anything but. With two different names, for reasons still unknown to me, I was perfectly in my rights for assuming that he also potentially had two personalities. I stomped to the fridge and yanked open the door. No, I wasn't a morning person. I grabbed the muddy looking drink and downed it as quickly as I could. It wasn't as nasty as I had expected it to be, but it was no fruit punch either. After wiping my mouth on my forearm I roughly set the glass into the sink and filled it up with water to soak. I tossed the granola wrapper into the trash and followed Kuwabara and Kurama, who had been watching my mild tantrum disinterestedly, wordlessly outside.

I was once again underdressed. It was still early enough for there to be dew on the grass, and within moments of entering a small clearing at the back of the temple I had goosebumps all over my body. This was definitely not t-shirt weather, and my sweatpants didn't retain much of my already low body heat. I tried in vain to warm up my arms by using the friction of my palms, but it did nothing and the guys weren't the least bit sympathetic.

"We'll start with some light warm ups." Kurama moved to the center of the clearing, and after a minute of me just staring at him blankly he beckoned me to come forth. I glanced at Kuwabara, who gave me a nod of encouragement, then hesitantly approached Kurama in the small clearing. "Now, I want you to close your eyes."

My head did a strange jerking movement that was a combination of a headshake, twitch, and bobble. Say what?

"The fuck I will!" I crossed my arms over my chest. "I'm still not quite sure I trust you after the suicide mission you sent me on the other day."

"Suri, please don't make this difficult."

"I'm not closing my eyes."

"Suri –"

"No."

"Very well, then." Kurama sighed. "You leave me no choice."

I watched suspiciously as Kurama reached a hand to the back of his head and pulled forth a perfectly red rose. Instead of being surprised, I wondered what else he had hiding in his thick mane of hair, but my curiosity was quickly silenced when the rose turned into a green vine at the flick of his wrist.

"That's a cute party trick."

In the blink of an eye, Kurama swung the vine at me and with a loud SNAP it left a bright red mark across my right arm. I cried out in pain.

"What the _fuck_ was that for?!" I could hear Kuwabara yelling something in disbelief behind me, although I was too pissed and shocked to pay attention to exactly what he was saying. "That fucking hurt!"

He pulled his arm back again, and this time I tried to dodge the painful whipping. I was too slow, and the vine whip thing smacked me right across the chest. It stung like hell. I temporarily lost the filter around my mouth and began spewing out all sorts of vulgar insults at him. I wouldn't dare repeat some of the things I said in that moment in anger; I said some pretty nasty stuff.

He lashed at me again and again, and any time Kuwabara tried to interfere he would lash at him too. I didn't manage to dodge a single painful blow. I was in tears, begging him to stop. I would flinch every time he'd move his arm. I tried to run and hide, but every time I would come close to escaping he would lasso me with his whip like Indiana Jones and pull me back into the clearing.

His eyes were scary. They weren't kind anymore. They were serious and intense. I was on my knees, feeling faint from the pain and anxiety. My breathing was rough and labored. The next time the vine whip lashed across my shoulder I blacked out.

**[Kurama's View]**

He felt a little remorseful for having to use those methods. He didn't want to hurt the girl, but this was the best and quickest way to get results. That is, if the extensive research he had done the day before really turned out to be true…

She had sunk to her knees. He face was red, tear stained, and contorted in fear and pain. He lashed at her one more time, striking her on the left shoulder, and she collapsed face first into the grass. Kuwabara started to run towards her but he stopped him.

"Wait," Kurama said sternly. "Don't touch her just yet."

Kuwabara was anxious and restless as several moments passed and Suri still hadn't moved. It was hard to tell whether or not she was breathing. Her limp form was completely motionless, until her entire body twitched once.

Kurama pulled his arm back and swung the whip at her again, despite a cry of protest from Kuwabara. The whip struck air.

"Wh… Where'd she go?" Kuwabara looked around frantically.

Suri was nowhere to be seen. She had disappeared in a nanosecond.

A ball of demonic energy suddenly cut through the air, narrowly missing Kurama and Kuwabara. Kurama turned around and came face to face with what was moments ago a sickly human girl.

Suri didn't look much like herself. Her eyes had turned into a shimmering gold with her pupils dilated nearly to the edges. Her hair had started to turn brown at the ends and her nails had become sharp and long and there were a pair of brown furry ears on her head. There was a good possibility that she had also grown a tail, but it was hard to tell because she was wearing sweatpants.

"She's a cat!" Kuwabara exclaimed excitedly, then more seriously, "How'd she do that?"

Suri lunged at Kurama, claws aimed at his throat, but he managed to dodge her assault. She wasn't herself at all, but that wasn't the strange part. The strange part was that she didn't seem to be possessed, just… different, and with no apparent recollection of who she was. She lunged at him again, and after dodging her second attack he snapped the whip at her. Instead of trying to dodge, she used her claws to cut through the vine whip.

"So, she really is…" Kurama frowned, deep in thought but not the least bit distracted. With another flick of his whip thorns protruded from the vine. Suri saw this and let out a low growl.

"Um, Kurama?" Kuwabara spoke hesitantly. "When cats growl it means they're _really_ pissed…"

She lunged again, and this time left a few light scratches on Kurama's cheek. She was getting faster. Her ears pinned back against her head as her attacks became more ferocious. Kurama was having a hard time fending her off. The longer the battle drug on, the more vicious she became.

Despite acquiring several new scratches, a few of which would scar if he did not remedy them soon after battle, Kurama remained cool and calculating. He observed every single one of her movements closely.

"_She's not herself, but she's not possessed. Nor is she displaying any hostility towards Kuwabara, and I know she has seen him standing nearby. She is not bloodthirsty; she is not making any moves to kill, only to injure, which is a good sign. The way in which she transformed, however, does confirm my fears."_

The fight lasted for a good while. Suri was panting and Kurama's breathing was heavy. She definitely had a strong will to fight. She had several gashes of her own from his rose whip, but she refused to stop fighting. He had a feeling that she wouldn't transform back on her own, so he transformed his whip once again so that it did not have thorns and lashed out at her until he finally managed to wrap it around her neck. He pulled her close to him and held her tight so that she could not claw her way out, and as soon as she fainted he released his hold on her.

He carried her inside, ignoring Kuwabara's skeptical, confused, and accusing looks. Her brought her to her room and laid her in her bed before heading back to the living room where Kuwabara was waiting to grill him with questions and accusations.

"What the hell, Kurama? You said you were going to train her, not fight her! She's not even close to being ready for that!" Kuwabara scolded. Kurama just sighed, as if he had just explained something for a million times and that something should be completely obvious by now.

"I never intended to train her."

"What?"

"Her body is too weak, Kuwabara. It's decaying. The only thing training would do is exhaust her, which would allow whatever it is that's inside of her to consume her without her body putting up much of a fight. If we trained her like we have trained others in the past, her human body would be dead within a week."

"And making her fight doesn't exhaust her?" Kuwabara raised an eyebrow challengingly.

"It does," Kurama admitted, "but it wasn't about getting her to fight. It was about getting her to fear. As soon as she started to become afraid, she developed demon traits. I didn't tell you this earlier, but the drink I had given her earlier contained a few drops of low-class demon blood. Hiei was right. I would not have found out what she was in a science book, although I'm still praying that there is one other alternative to what she may be…"

"Wait… So you know what's inside of her?!"

"Right now everything points to one thing, but I'm really hoping to find another answer."

"Would ya quit with the riddles and just tell me what she is already!"

Kurama sighed quietly. He seemed to be deep in thought, unsure whether or not to reveal his findings to Kuwabara. It wasn't good news, and it meant that he would have to stay with this Suri girl even longer. His mother was still ill, and the thought of having to stay at the temple while she was on bedrest drove him mad.

"She is a demon that every single history document claims to be extinct. Her soul is that of a demon, I just couldn't smell it before because her flesh was still human... But now her human internals are decaying and being replaced by demon organs and her skin smells less and less human. I believe her human body has been a vessel from birth – there was never a human soul inside to begin with. Somehow she has lost the memories of her demon life, but she definitely has a demon soul. When she fears something greatly, that demon soul takes over to defend the body."

There was a moment of silence as Kuwabara waited for him to continue, but when he didn't he finally asked, "What kind of demon is she?"

"A kind of demon who can completely steal the identity of others. A breed which can read the DNA in a single drop of blood and temporarily, sometimes even permanently depending on the demon's age and skill level, steal the physical traits, immunities, and powers of other demons. A race that King Enma had ordered to be annihilated due to their unique and dangerous abilities. Suri is a Blood Demon, and if there is one that survived, who is to say that there aren't more."

* * *

_Aaand Suri's secret is finally revealed! I'm sorry this was a short chapter, I was having writer's block and it's been so long since my last update, I just wanted to give you guys something to read! I hope you enjoyed! I'll try harder to get the next chapter out quicker, and I promise it will be longer._


	6. 06: Identity

Thank you guys so much for the reviews, they are so motivational :)

**Bloodprints**

06: Identity

* * *

"Her race was well known for having a high percentage rate of criminals and deviants. There was hardly ever a Blood Demon that didn't cause mischief. In fact, one such demon even managed to get a drop of King Enma's blood and almost succeeded in taking over Spirit World by stealing his identity. That was when King Enma decided that their race needed to be eliminated. Their blood is extremely toxic to anyone outside that race, making it next to impossible to study their genetics. Even with the most advanced technology, their blood cannot be safely handled. It is unstable, vaporous, and noxious. Not a single person has managed to decipher their DNA."

Kurama was scrubbing away the smears of blood on his arms in the kitchen sink from when he had carried Suri's cut-up and unconscious body inside. He was pale and beads of sweat had broken out across his forehead.

"That's probably why you faint when you smell her blood, huh?" Kuwabara was sitting down at the kitchen table, watching the fox demon closely.

"Yes. Her blood isn't even completely demonic yet, but it is already highly toxic. Just from carrying her inside and getting a little bit of her blood on myself I feel ill. I should have washed it off right after I laid her to bed."

"You gonna be alright?" Kuwabra asked worriedly.

"Yes."

"I'm guessing we're gonna have to make a trip to Koenma's pretty soon then?"

"It would appear so. She'll most likely be sentenced to death."

"What?!" Kuwabara jumped up from the chair, nearly knocking it over. "We can't let her be killed! It's not like she's done anything wrong!"

"We don't know that. Chances are, since she had to seek refuge inside a human body, she was either a criminal or her demonic body was destroyed when King Enma annihilated her race."

"You were a criminal too, Kurama, or have you forgotten?" Kuwabara received a dangerous look from Kurama, but it didn't faze him. "Everyone deserves a second chance, and we don't know for sure that she did anything wrong. We can't let her be killed just for being a certain race. That's called racism and that's not right."

"The decision isn't up to me."

"Let's just not tell Koenma then. I know you want to go home to your mother as soon as you can, but are you really willing to sacrifice and innocent life for that reason? You're better than that, Kurama." With that, Kuwabara left the kitchen.

He headed down the hallway completely submersed in thoughts. He wasn't going to let anything happen to Suri, of that he was sure. It wasn't fair. All she knew was her human life, she had no recollection of her previous life and there was no saying matter-of-factly if she was a criminal or not in her past. He stopped at her door and grabbed the handle, but it would not turn. It had only been a little over a half hour since Kurama had put her to bed and he did not lock the door. Had she regained consciousness already? He rapped his knuckles on the door.

"Suri?" Silence. He pressed his ear to the door and called her name again. "Suri, are you awake?"

* * *

I didn't feel like myself. I had woken up shortly after Kurama had picked me up in that field, but I pretended to remain unconscious until he had left my room. I had jumped off my bed right afterwards and locked the door to my room before running into the bathroom and locking that door too. I sat down against the wall right beside the bath tub.

There was a lot running through my mind and I couldn't even begin to organize the mental chaos. I scratched the top of my head, noticing the animal-like ears on my head for the first time. I let out half a chuckle. I didn't even care anymore; nothing weird could take me by surprise after this hellish week. I ran my fingers through my hair, only to discover it was coming out in thick strands. Being not completely there mentally, I continued to run my hand through my hair until I was patchy and nearly bald. Maybe I was losing my mind, in that calm, freakish sort of manner.

I scratched an itch on my nose with the back of my hand. My skin felt loose and was draping, which _almost _caught me by surprise. I stood up and finally looked at my reflection in the mirror, and had I not already been out of my mind I would have freaked the fuck out. My skin was in folds, I had cat ears on my head, my hair had fallen out, and I had cuts all over my face. I pulled at my cheek, and when I let go it stayed at the length I had pulled it too, just like clay.

I'm really going to stress the fact that I wasn't panicking, even though I had every right to.

Just then I heard a knock. "Suri?"

I held my breath. I hadn't expected them to come check on me so soon.

"Suri, are you awake?"

A sudden heat flash sent me stumbling back until my back collided against the wall. A familiar burning sensation took over my entire body and I nearly cried out in pain. Beads of sweat broke across my forehead and my breathing quickly became shallow and labored. I tried my best to keep quiet as not to alert Kuwabara that I was conscious.

I stayed silent until I heard him leave, then I exhaled sharply. I heard something plop on the floor, and when I looked down I found a glob of flesh in front of my feet. I quickly brought a hand up to my face, then I looked back into the mirror. I was finally out of my calm phase and went into shock. It was finally happening: I was actually melting.

I stripped all my clothes and threw them across the bathroom. My whole body was melting.

I sank to my knees as my skin began sliding off my flesh in large chunks. So, this was it? This was how I was going to die? Well, at least the last few days of my life have been interesting. I tried not to cry, but dammit, I didn't want to die. I had always dreamed to live a long, happy life, but who the hell was I kidding. I knew deep down that it was impossible. I was doomed to die young from the day I was born.

My stomach jerked and I suddenly found myself throwing up several pounds of smelly, black, rotten, gooey internals. The stench was so bad that it burned my nostrils. My body now felt completely empty and deflated as if nothing was left inside of it. I stood up shaking and braved the mirror again.

Tears welling up in my eyes, I watched my reflection in the mirror as it fell apart. It was like something out of a horror movie. My skin was melting away, dripping onto the floor and exposing my red flesh. My scalp was sliding off and I almost had the urge to vomit. I was afraid to touch any part of myself in fear that it would just melt beneath my fingertips even faster than it already was. It was horrifying to watch, and yet I couldn't look away. It didn't take more than a few agonizing minutes for my entire body to become a bleeding mass of flesh.

I didn't ponder why I wasn't dead yet. Instead, I stared at my freakish figure and wondered what was going to happen next. Was my flesh going to fall apart too? Or would it burst into flames? My entire body was burning from being exposed to air. Salty tears felt like acid as they washed down my bare cheeks. I looked like a monster.

As I stood there, waiting for the next gut-wrenching scene to play before my eyes, I felt a cool sensation wash over my body. It started at the tip of my toes and slowly started to creep up. I kept my eyes straight ahead, staring into my reflection, when something near the bottom of the mirror's viewpoint caught my attention. Something was creeping up onto me.

A small gasp escaped my lips as I realized that this something was skin! New skin was slowly forming around my body! It had started at my toes and was slowly making its way up until it finally stretched over my entire body. Hair started to sprout from my head and I watched in awe and amazement as my features literally started to mold into new ones. Then I could feel something stirring inside me, filling me up. A single pulse rippled through my entire body and then all movement on and inside of me stopped.

It took me a moment to realize that the reflection in the mirror was indeed my own. I was even paler than I was before which, until now, I had no idea was possible. I was almost translucent and could faintly see every purple vein in my body – from my hands, all the way up to my arms, and even faintly on my face. My eyes were smoldering and the perfect almond shape. My irises were a dark, rich purple and my pupils were a brilliant red. I had the perfect button nose. My mouth was wider than before and my lips were almost as pale as my skin. They had some fullness in them, but not too much, and had a slight pouty look to them. My hair was long, jet black, and healthy. It reached all the way down to my waist in very soft waves. I had always dreamed to have such gorgeous locks. And I felt just as different as I looked. I felt strong – something I had never felt before – as if I could run all the way back to my tiny apartment and not even break a sweat. As if I could go to the gym and not feel out of place. As if I could beat Kurama's ass and knock _him _unconscious.

Hell yeah!

"_Wait…" _I suddenly realized what was going on. I remembered what Kurama had originally said about my condition. _"So… am I possessed? I thought being possessed would feel a lot different. Fuck, I hope it doesn't make me kill anybody."_

Another thought crossed my mind.

"_I hope they don't think I'm evil and try to kill me!"_

I stood in silence for a few moments, listening intently to find out if anyone was still at the door. I discovered that my hearing had greatly increased. When I concentrated, I could hear dishes clinking in the sink and the faint voices of Kuwabara and Kurama.

I snuck out of the bathroom quietly and made my way to my closet. As I pulled on my underwear and slipped into a pair of sweats and a sleeveless shirt, I was happy to find that I filled out my clothes much better than before. I actually had a pair of boobs and a nice ass now! I couldn't keep the grin off my face! And to think that all this time I was worried about being possessed. This demon could hijack my body whenever it wanted to if this was the reward I got for it. Tying up my sneakers I headed to the window and, listening one more time to make sure no one was coming to check on me, I quietly opened the window and jumped out.

"_Alright," _I thought to myself with a new-found confidence. _"Let's see what this body can do."_

I stretched my arms up over my head, popping my spine in several places. My first thought was to go towards the stairs and run home, but that passed the kitchen window and was too risky since the guys were in there. I also had no idea how to get back home. I looked the opposite way towards the back of the temple. The forest thinned out there and I was suddenly curious to what lied behind those trees. With a massive burst of energy that seemed to come out of nowhere, I sprinted off in that direction.

**[From Kurama and Kuwabara's point of view]**

"I will agree to your terms, Kuwabara, as long as you are willing to accept the potential consequences."

"I am."

An enormous burst of demonic energy suddenly shook the entire temple, rattling the windows and sending things toppling from their places in the kitchen pantry. Kurama and Kuwabara exchanged looks.

"I'll go check on Suri." Kuwabara ran out of the kitchen, while Kurama dashed outside to find the source of the energy. He darted down the hall and came sliding to a stop at Suri's door. A rapped his knuckles against the door. "Suri?"

No response, again.

"Suri!" He jiggled the doorknob. "Dammit... Suri, I hope you're dressed 'cause I'm breaking down this door!"

He took a few steps back before ramming into the door with his shoulder. It only took him two tries to break the door from its hinges. He immediately looked to the bed, but she wasn't in it. He ran to the bathroom but halted quickly when he saw the foul smelling mess on the bathroom tiles. He quickly brought a hand up to his mouth and backed away. _"What's going on?"_

He looked around the room to find clues. His eyes landed on the window and the pieces quickly fell together.

"Oh no."

**[Suri]**

I felt so alive! I was running faster than any human being could ever even dream to run and I was still breathing as if I was just on a casual stroll through the park! It was amazing!

Trees jumped in and out of my view as I ran as fast as I could. I'm sure I covered at least two miles already. Less than a minute went by and I finally saw the end of the forest, and when I passed the last tree I was surprised to find a large lake.

It was beautiful. There were a good ten yards or more of soft sand surrounding the edge of the glistening water. A few large rocks were scattered randomly across the sand which provided the perfect places to sit and gaze upon the water. The lake itself had to stretch for at least a mile. It smelled fresh. This was the closest I had ever come to being on a beach.

Taking off my shoes, I walked barefoot through the sand. It felt amazing on my feet. I was about to dip my toes in the water when the sounds of footsteps in the distance caught my attention. They were approaching quickly. I turned around just in time to find none other than Kurama standing right in front of the start of the sand.

I don't know what came over me, but when I saw that red-haired pretty boy I suddenly felt like being a total bitch. No more shy, sweet Suri. This was now bad girl Suri, and bad girl Suri wanted revenge. A sly smirk spread across my lips and I leaned on one hip with an almost arrogant attitude.

"Hey, cocksucker."

The glare I received in response was so intense it made me giggle in joy. I just _loved _that he was angry right now.

"Who are you?" He demanded.

My smirk grew wider. He had no idea who I was. I had half a mind to tell him, but then I didn't want him to hold back this time. I wanted to beat him senseless when he was giving me his all. This new me even thought differently. I no longer wanted to run from danger… I wanted to charge headfirst into it. I didn't question this new mindset; I embraced it with open arms.

It seemed to bother Kurama that I didn't answer his question. He stepped forward and repeated his question, more firmly this time. This time I just outright laughed. I watched him with amusement as he slowly pulled a rose from his hair.

"Oh, how charming." I smiled knowingly.

"Oh, I can be very charming." Kurama said dangerously. I just snickered.

"You got jokes, huh?" I took a few challenging steps forward. "Why don't we have a dance, monsieur?"

Kurama was about to flick the rose into a whip, when someone else came stumbling out of the forest.

"Kurama, wait! That's Suri!"

"Dammit, Kuwabara!" I crossed my arms over my chest haughtily. "I was just about to have some fun."

* * *

"Do you remember anything?"

I sat at the very edge of the sand, bare feet dipped in the cool water. After Kuwabara cleared the tension that had built up in the air, Kurama started doing the thing he did best: interrogation.

"Remember what?" I rolled my eyes.

"Your past."

"Um, yeah, why wouldn't I?" I splashed the water lightly with my feet and then, with an impish grin, splashed Kuwabara who was sitting next to me. He let out a surprised yelp and splashed me right back. "Do people usually lose their memories when they're possessed?"

"Possessed?" Kuwabara blinked. Kurama answered for him.

"You're not possessed, Suri. My original theories were wrong." I looked up at Kurama questioningly. "You've been a demon all this time. You were simply trapped inside a human body. You're like me in a sense, except I chose to keep this form."

"Say what?" He had my attention now.

"I am also a demon, Suri. This is my human form. When some rather… unfortunate events took place in my past life, I was forced to seek refuge inside a human body. My soul found a home inside a human fetus, and as my human body aged my demon soul became stronger. If I wished, I could permanently transform back into my demon form and discard this form. It seems that you have chosen to do just that. What I find strange, however, is that you have no recollection of your former life. Something went wrong when you chose this host and you lost your memories."

"So I'm not possessed?"

"No."

"I'm a demon?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Cool." I jumped up suddenly, eyes wide and sparkling. "Does that mean I have awesome powers?!"

I noticed Kurama and Kuwabara exchanging looks. They knew something.

"Any demon over D class usually has some sort of powers."

"D Class?" Before Kurama could answer I shook my head. "Never mind that, I think you know what powers I have, don't you?"

He stayed silent, and I turned to Kuwabara.

"Kuwabara?" He looked away.

"I think it would be best, at least for now, if you didn't know."

"Why the hell not?" I glared at Kurama. I was getting tired of them trying to control and monitor my life. "If you don't tell me, I'll be forced to figure it out myself. And I'll start with you."

"Suri…" Kuwabara spoke cautiously. He stood up and put a hand on my shoulder. "What is with you? You aren't acting like yourself."

"Back off." I smacked his hand off me. "I'm leaving this temple. I feel fucking amazing. I could destroy both of you if I wanted to, so don't even try to stop me. I'm tired of you guys trying to control my life."

"Suri, you're eyes are glowing red." Kuwabara stepped back. "Snap out of it."

"Oh, I'm not out of it, but if you keep trying to contain me I _will_ lose my mind!" I heard Kurama step closer from behind me. "Stay back, pretty boy. I wouldn't want to mess up that gorgeous face of yours."

"Suri, please calm down."

"What, you scared?" I bared my teeth devilishly. I could feel my canine teeth starting to lengthen into fangs and I could feel my ears disappearing as new ones formed on the top of my head. I was transforming into a cat again. I raised my hand, nails turning into razor sharp claws. Kuwabara just stood in front of me, eyes firm but not angry. I lowered my hand. Had I forgotten who he was? He had reached out to me from the very beginning, I couldn't hurt him. I shook my head. He was right, I really was out of it. I could feel my ears disappearing again and my claws returned back to regular nails.

"C'mon," Kuwabara extended his hand to me, but I didn't take it. "Let's go back."

We walked back to the temple in silence. Kuwabara seemed at ease, but I could feel the tense suspicion oozing off of Kurama. When we got back they held another private meeting in the living room, and I told them I was going to go lie down for a bit.

I walked into my room, noting that the door had been busted down, and quickly grabbed my notebook. I flipped to the page where I had drawn the map and narrowed down the options for Kurama's potential room.

Keeping an ear out to make sure they were still in the living room, I began to search the temple for Kurama's room. It didn't take me very long. Turns out my sense of smell was heightened too, and I had an easy time sniffing out the soft rose scent from behind the closed doors.

I was relieved to find that he kept his door unlocked. Double checking once again to make sure they were still talking, I quietly snuck into his room, leaving the door cracked so that I could hear if they were coming. There had to be something in here of use. I know he had been doing a lot of "research" on my "condition".

There were dozens of books near his desk, and countless papers and notebooks. It was far less organized than I had thought it would be. I snuck across the room to his desk and started shuffling through the papers, but there was nothing of interest there – just his original theories. I started looking through the notebooks next, but it was the same garbage. I tip-toed back to the door to listen for them and was happy to find that they were still having their little meeting. I went back to the desk and started looking through the books.

There was one particular book that stood out to me that didn't seem to belong. All except one book were all science-type books. This one, however, was an old, fragile, history book. I flipped through the worn pages carefully. They seemed to turn over louder than the other books. As I turned page by page, I noticed he highlighted something, and the more I flipped the pages the more yellow markings I found. There was one particular thing that he had highlighted and circled.

_Blood Demon._

I eagerly started to read all his notes and highlighted sentences. My eyes widened with each word. Was this me? Was this what I was? I started getting absorbed in the reading, I just had to know more!

"What are you doing?"

I bristled visibly. Goosebumps scattered across my skin and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I had gotten too absorbed in reading. I hadn't heard anyone approaching. Slowly, I looked up from the book I was reading until my eyes met with the most intense blood red eyes I had ever seen.


End file.
